Coronavirus: Central Texas Food Bank Serves 1,515 Households

AUSTIN, TX — In the fog of pandemic, good works from helpers are often obscured. One is bombarded with news updates on the toll of illness — necessary advisories for transparency and to underscore the need for social distancing — that can have a debilitating effect on already-anxious times.

Yet this weekend, Central Texas Food Bank deeds illuminated through the lingering haze with their good deeds. On Saturday, the food bank distributed free food at Nelson Field, 7105 Berkman Dr., from 9 a.m. to noon from its mobile food pantries to help those facing increased food insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the end, the Central Texas Food Bank distributed food for 1,515 households — two emergency food boxes each, one containing shelf-stable items and hte other filled with frozen items. All told, the pair of boxes contained some 48 pounds of food — peanut butter, brown rice, canned tuna, chicken, fruits, vegetables, frozen chicken, orange juice and bread.

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For the Central Texas Food Bank, it's par for the course — all in a day's work, as it were — just another day at the figurative office, itself an environ from our recent past with an increasing number of people forced to work from home in an era necessitating physical distancing to blunt the spread of illness.

A phalynx of autombiles at a standstill upon the concrete on Saturday had all the markings of a traffic jam — another seemingly distant memory of our recent past given the stilled roads and highways amid pandemic as residents shelter in place. The congestion instead comprised heads of households descending upon the food distribution point retrieving food for their families.

Cars occupied by heads of households seeking food for their families in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Central Texas Food Bank.

In the best of times, the Central Texas Food Bank serves nearly 46,000 people every week in servicing 21 Central Texas counties from its Austin headquarters. That service area is about twice the size of Massachusetts, to lend a bit of perspective to its year-round work.

A Central Texas Food Bank worker takes down information from a resident seeking aid on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Central Texas Food Bank.

The food bank's altruistic mission is in greater focus in these days, as residents across the region — among them people you might know, maybe your neighbors or co-workers — are grappling with coronavirus-caused work stoppages that have halted their stream of income for the basic necessities of life.

And the Central Texas Food Banks is not done yet, with plans for additional food distribution events like the one on Saturday scheduled in the coming weeks. Future distribution events will be announced as details are finalized, officials said. As an “essential service” the Central Texas Food Bank — with its distribution network of stationary and mobile pantries — is exempt from the shelter-in-place order, as are its staff and volunteers. The exemption enables the food bank to continue meeting the needs of those facing hunger.

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Those struggling to put food on the table who missed the food drive can still avail themselves of the food bank's services. For the latest information on getting help, visit centraltexasfoodbank.org and click on “Find Food Now.”Once you find the distribution site nearest you, call to confirm hours of operation. Those in need of food also can call 2-1-1 for the latest information.

Despite its largesse, the Central Texas Food Bank isn't immune from its own pandemic-prompted hardships, officials noted in a press advisory. As demand for its services skyrockets, its resources have been severely strained. Those who are among the fortunate ones not dealing with financial exigencies can help with monetary donations to ensure continuation of the food bank's work. To make a financial contribution, visit centraltexasfoodbank.org.

At the end of the three-hour food distribution, those helped went home with a trunkfull of food to take home to their families thanks to the food bank. It was, at the very least, one less thing to worry about for anxious-ridden families living through the corrosive effects of pandemic as the virus causing respiratory illness ravages communities in a seemingly inexorable reach.

A Central Texas Food Bank fills a car trunk with an emergency food supply on Saturday, April 4, 2020, in Austin, Texas. Photo courtesy of the Central Texas Food Bank.

ABOUT THE CENTRAL TEXAS FOOD BANK

The mission of Central Texas Food Bank is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in the fight against hunger. Founded in 1981, the Food Bank provides food and grocery products through a network of nearly 300 Partner Agencies and nutrition programs. For more information on the Food Bank and its programs, visit centraltexasfoodbank.org.