The 4-H Youth Council voted to help local food pantries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below is some information on how to contact your local food banks. You can drop off at the extension office but please call ahead to let us know you are coming.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas food banks are serving
88% more clients than this time last year.
Feeding Texas reports that food donations are down at a time when demand
at food pantries and food banks has exploded as people have lost jobs and
income. The number of volunteers at food
banks and pantries has also declined by more than 70% causing some food
pantries to close due to inability to serve clients. Others are closing due to lack of food available
to distribute. Food banks have
increased the number of mobile distributions due to the closure of some food
pantries. Unfortunately, they have had to turn people
away from these mobile distribution sites, because they handed out all the food
they brought before they ran out of people to serve.
Food
shortages at food pantries and food banks have been reported at the State
Operations Center. As a result, AgriLife
Extension has been asked to sponsor and organize food drives at the county
level to benefit local food pantries or the food bank serving that county when
no local food pantry is available or currently open.
The
following guidelines and suggestions are provided to help facilitate the
planning.
Identify and contact local food pantries
Identify the food pantries in your county and contact them
to determine if they are currently open and accepting food donations. Inform them of your intent to conduct a food
drive and notify them of the time period or ask them when the best time for
them would be to have a food drive. If
there are no food pantries in your community, contact the food bank that serves
your county. (See Food Bank Map)
Determine if the food pantries have a preference for how
they receive food donations –
·
do they want individuals/families to drop off
their donations at the food pantry or do they prefer you have a central
collection point and bring the donations to them at one time? This will help determine how you organize the
food drive.
·
If they prefer individuals/families drop off
their donations at the food pantry, you will want to get the times when they
accept donations. Some food pantries
only accept donations during specific time periods. Donation times would need to be communicated
to your Extension network. (More
discussion below)
·
If they want the donations to be made all at
once, you will need to determine a central collection point where donations can
be dropped off. This may be at your
office, a community center, the courthouse, the local grocery or convenience
store, etc. If the collection point is
not at your office, it will be helpful to have volunteers (a great 4-H service
project) identified to collect the donations daily during the food drive week
and keep in one spot until they are delivered to the food pantry.
Weigh and Report Donations
We would like to track the weight of donations.
·
Often food pantries have scales they can use to
weigh donations. If families are
dropping their donations off, have them record the weight and report to
you. You can also drop off at the Extension Office which will serve as a central collection point, and help record the weight of donations.
·
What to Donate
·
In your conversations with food pantries you may
ask what specific items are in greatest need.
The list below is a standard list of foods food pantries and food banks
request.
·
Ask if they have specific policies or
requirements for food that is donated or items they do not accept. This is often the case with fresh produce. Fresh or frozen meats and home canned/preserved
products are generally not accepted.
·
You can also provide the Food Safety Tips for
Donating Food fact sheet to families and volunteers.
·
Suggested Foods
·
Canned
meats
·
Canned
vegetables
·
Peanut
Butter
·
Canned
fruits
·
Ready
to eat pop-top can goods
·
Shelf
stable milk
·
Dry
goods – pasta, rice, beans, cereal
·
Some people may prefer to give a monetary
contribution. In your discussions with
the food pantries you may ask them how people should make monetary donations or
you may elect to include the Food Bank information for any monetary
donations. When possible, track and
report these donations as well.
Other Resources
Questions and suggestions about this project should be
directed to:
Carrie Sharp, cl-sharp@tamu.edu
