The holidays are an extremely busy time for food banks throughout Texas. Fortunately, each year various organizations come together to help collect food and keep them stocked through the winter months.

The USDA is reporting the national average for food insecurity is down almost 5% in 2021. Unfortunately, Central Texas is an outlier in these stats reporting a 16% increase in need. Pre-pandemic food insecurity rates for Central Texas came in at 13.2% and 2021 data shows 15.4%, according to Derrick Chubbs president and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank. This translates into one in eight Texans experiencing food insecurity.

Food For Families – Helping Locally

No family should have to choose between paying for food and healthcare, or food and monthly bills. Food for Families is an annual project sponsored by the Longhorn Council, Boy Scouts of America, HEB Grocery Company, and KWTX News 10. As the largest one-day food drive in Texas, it spans 9 counties and collects more than 1 million pounds of non-perishable food each year.

STRATA was honored to be able to support Food for Families with our employees filling up two truckloads containing over 1,800 hundred items collected.

Last year alone, with the help of generous organizations and individuals in the area, Food for Families successfully collected 2,644,406 pounds of food, stocking food banks and pantries across Texas well beyond the holiday season. With several drop off locations available, making a donation is easy. There is also an online portal available for monetary donations. Pantries in Belton, Clifton, Fairfield, Killeen, Temple, and Whitney, as well as Caritas of Waco, are all set up as financial support recipients.

Help with Hunger Across America

Nationally, the US has over 200 food banks and 60,000 partner pantries. If you looking to support a local pantry Feeding America has a food bank finder. You may also locate specific areas of the US that are projected to be in the most need with their easy to use map.