Category: Stories

“This food will help out a lot.”

Kaprenai

“Nutritious food is important to have with young children,” said Kaprenai, who we met at an East Texas Food Bank distribution recently. “This food will help out a lot,” she told us.

Kaprenai has a busy household, with six children ranging from 4 to 14 years old. She said that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted her family.

“I’m not working right now and my husband is not working as much as he used to,” she said. “Our income just dropped suddenly.”

Kaprenai said that she was able to find out about the distribution by calling the East Texas Food Bank.

“They told me when it was and I plan to keep coming when I can,” she said.

Kaprenai is appreciative of the help she received, and wants to give thanks to those that help make the distributions possible.

“Thank you for coming out, helping the community, providing and giving back,” she said. “My family is grateful for it.”

To find the local food resources near you, click the orange “FIND FOOD” button at the top of this page.

If you would like to support our work, please click here to learn about the ways you can join the fight against hunger and provide one less worry for families like Kaprenai’s.

“We are just like everyone else right now.”

David

“We are just like everyone else right now,” said David who recently attended a food distribution.

“I’m currently on furlough at work and my wife just went back after a 2 month furlough.”

David said his family of 5 is doing “okay”, however they are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Fortunately for their family, no one has been sick.

“When we go to the grocery store, we find supply issues,” he said.  “Then there are limits on the number of items you can purchase.”

Having nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables for his family is important to David.

“We try to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle,” he said.  “The produce we received is going to provide options for several meals in the next few days I’m sure.”

David said he appreciates the ability to pick up the items from the distribution and the work that the East Texas Food Bank is doing.

“I just want to give a big thank you,” he said.  “This is very much needed in the community right now.”

With 1 in 4 East Texans facing hunger due to COVID-19, our hunger-relief work is far from over. But thanks to the outpouring of support from the community, we can keep feeding more East Texas families like David’s.

Anyone seeking food assistance can click the “FIND FOOD” at the top of the page to find the closest resource to them.

To support families like David’s, click here to join the fight against hunger.

“We appreciate everything that you have done to help us.”

Rosie

“I got up this morning about 3:30 a.m. and made it here at 4:18 a.m. to be second in line,” Rosie recently told us when we met her at an emergency food distribution. Being an early riser, it was no problem for her and her friendly personality to be in line that early for a 10 a.m. distribution.

Rosie is just one of the thousands of people who have relied on the East Texas Food Bank and our food pantry partners to help them during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Rosie said the food is important to help feed her and her mom.

“Both my mom and I are heart patients,” Rosie said. She added that with her pre-existing condition it makes it more difficult to go out now.  “I wanted to make sure we had the things we needed, so I was able to get boxes for both of us.”

Rosie was very grateful to be able to receive the food during the distribution.

“I thank the East Texas Food Bank for providing the food for us,” she said. “We appreciate everything that you have done to help us.”

With 1 in 4 East Texans facing hunger due to COVID-19, our hunger-relief work is far from over. But thanks to the outpouring of support from the community, we can keep feeding more East Texans like Rosie.

Anyone seeking food assistance can click the “FIND FOOD” at the top of the page to find the closest resource to them.

To support families like Rosie’s, click here to join the fight against hunger.

Volunteers help fight hunger and feed hope during COVID-19 pandemic

Volunteers are an essential part to helping the East Texas Food Bank continue our mission of “fighting hunger and feeding hope in East Texas”.  They have played a much more vital role recently as we have been distributing even more food due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic everyone is facing.

One of our great volunteers, Bertha Viramontes, has been helping with the Tyler produce distribution held at the East Texas State Fairgrounds twice a month for almost a year.

“I’ve seen that there are a lot of people that need food,” she said.  “It’s been good to help others and give them food for their tables.”

Bertha said she sees people smiling and saying thank you often while she is working.

“You get to know people and their situations,” she said.

While COVID-19 has not affected Bertha or her family personally, she understands the hardships many she sees during the distribution are facing.

“Food is getting much more expensive and then you may have (purchase) limits,” she said.

Bertha encourages anyone who wants to help to contact the food bank to find out how to volunteer.

“At the end of the day, you will feel good helping.”

If you would like to volunteer with the East Texas Food Bank, click here to find out more information.

“We feel like someone cares here.”

For the past three months, the East Texas Food Bank has held drive-thru distributions in cities all over our 26 county service area.  The distributions were developed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and we saw an immediate, increased demand for families affected by job loss, school closures and shutdowns.   In fact, between March and May 2020 the East Texas Food Bank provided 6.8 million meals to over 112,000 families.  This is a 40% increase compared to 2019.

Even as Texas begins to reopen and people start returning to work, the need for food assistance is still great.  Texas is dealing with the highest unemployment rate since 1986, and new data from Feeding America indicates that 1 in 3 children in East Texas is facing hunger now.  This is up from 1 in 4 children last year.

We met Binu at the weekly distribution in Tyler recently.  He, his wife and two children are new not only East Texas, but to the United States, arriving during an unprecedented pandemic affecting the country.

“We waited 14 years in India for our immigrant green card,” Binu told us.  “We started (the process) in 2006 and learned a lot of patience.”

Once Binu’s family was here, the pandemic created more problems for them.

“A lot of the offices were closed so we couldn’t get our assistance,” he said.

Binu told us he had been coming to the weekly distribution for the last few weeks, and that the items he received helped tremendously.

“We will not waste any food items,” he said.  “So many are struggling for food in the world.”

It’s a struggle Binu says he has seen in India first hand.

“The problem is there and people are suffering a lot,” he said. “We don’t have all of this in India.  We feel like someone cares here. I saw the military serving and police supporting us.  I’m so proud of that.”

Binu said he was so thankful to the East Texas Food Bank, volunteers and donors who help to support families like his during these times.

“Giving food to somebody is the biggest charity you can do a person,” he said.   “We all need food and water to survive so those who are providing this kind of thing is big.  Nothing is better in the world.”

If you would like to support East Texas families like Binu’s, click here to give.