SAN ANTONIO — Texas food banks attempting to keep up with significant demand are at risk of facing a food shortage come the new year unless Congress is able to pass another round of relief funding.
As of July, one in four Texas families struggles with some degree of food insecurity. The coronavirus pandemic has strained food banks' ability to seamlessly meet the demands of the public faced with food insecurity.
“Almost overnight, it felt like...it felt like the number of people we were serving just shot up,” said Celia Cole, president and CEO of Feeding Texas.
Cole noted the coronavirus has led to a 200% increase in demand across the state for the past nine months.
"Just looking at the last three months, the average monthly distribution was close to 100 million pounds of food across the state of Texas by the 21 food banks in our network, and that is just way more than we would do in normal circumstances,” Cole said.
The National Guard assisted with distribution efforts in the summer during a time when there weren’t as many volunteers.
Cole hopes the FDA-approved coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and federal funding pave the way to reviving the economy while continuing to ensure no family goes hungry.
“If that doesn’t go down and we don’t get increased federal aid in the next stimulus package, it’s possible we won’t be able to keep up and that’s a big concern because we don’t ever want to have to turn anyone away when they come to us needing help putting food on the table,” Cole said. “And that just means more people are likely going to get back on their feet and, again, get the Texas economy back on the feet when there is a vaccine and we can move forward.”
To help feed a family, visit feedingtexas.org.