NORTH TEXAS – Ahead of Hunger Action Day on Sept. 15, The Salvation Army of North Texas is highlighting its continued partnership with the North Texas Food Bank to raise community awareness for the increased demand for food pantry services across the region.
At the Carr P. Collins Social Service Center on Wednesday, Sept. 13, volunteers from The Salvation Army and the North Texas Food Bank hosted a mobile food pantry event to demonstrate how two of the region’s leading nonprofits meet the needs.
“Thanks to our partners like the North Texas Food Bank, we are fighting to help end hunger by providing nutritious meals to our neighbors in need. But that need is higher than ever,” said Major Paul McFarland, area commander of The Salvation Army of North Texas. “The generosity of the public and our partners enables us to serve all those who are lost, hungry, and hurting with services like food assistance that meet the most pressing needs of the community.”
Following the impacts of inflation, rising costs, and the lasting effects of the pandemic, The Salvation Army has expanded its resources to meet a new generation of needs. With the changes to vital government assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, earlier this year, North Texans experiencing poverty are faced with the difficult decision between putting food on the table or paying a utility bill.
At many of The Salvation Army’s locations in North Texas, demand for food pantry services has continued to rise. Across nine of The Salvation Army’s locations in North Texas, the number of first-time food pantry clients increased by an average of 26% from January to July of this year.
In the Carr P. Collins Social Service Center’s zip code (75235), the food insecurity rate is a high 17.9%, according to Feeding America data. As the largest Salvation Army multi-use facility in North Texas and the world, Carr P. Collins serves as the command center that picks up donations from retailers. This vital food is distributed throughout The Salvation Army’s 12 food pantries across the region, which includes nine North Texas Food Bank partner pantries across Dallas, Denton, Collin, and Ellis counties.
To combat a rise in hunger, the North Texas Food Bank this year made a grant to enable The Salvation Army, one of the top 10 largest partners of the North Texas Food Bank, to purchase a new distribution truck that can support distribution at a dramatically higher scale. Since the new truck has been in operation, delivery frequency, total pounds of food, and retail pickups have all increased.
“We simply could not do what we do in the fight against hunger without the support of feeding partners like The Salvation Army,” said Trisha Cunningham, president and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “Our grant program provides needed resources to our partner agencies allowing them to serve more people in their community. We are grateful for the commitment and dedication of The Salvation Army to hunger relief in our community.”
The Salvation Army believes that no one should have to go without basic supplies. As part of its commitment to supporting all those combatting poverty, addiction, and homelessness, The Salvation Army each week provides food assistance to more than 10,000 people across North Texas.
About The Salvation Army of North Texas
The Salvation Army of North Texas provides a range of services to combat poverty, addiction, and homelessness at 21 centers of operation in Dallas and Rockwall, Tarrant and Ellis, and Collin and Denton counties. For more information, visit www.SalvationArmyNTX.org.
About the North Texas Food Bank
The North Texas Food Bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization that sources, packages and distributes food through a network of nearly 500 partner agencies and organizations across 13 North Texas counties. In its last fiscal year, the NTFB provided access to more than 144 million nutritious meals or nearly 400,000 meals a day, a 5% percent increase over the prior year. The organization also offers direct-delivery programs, including mobile pantries. NTFB is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization.
Source : Waxahachie Sun
