North Texas Food Bank Trying to Raise $55 Million With Aim of Shaking Up How America Feeds Its Hungry

The North Texas Food Bank on Friday will announce the public phase of a $55 million capital campaign that the agency's leaders say will moderinize the nonprofit in a way that could revolutionize how America feeds people facing hunger."With this new distribution model, we're going to be able to move not only more food, but move better food," said John A. Beckert, who is chairing the campaign with his wife, Pam.The "Stop Hunger Build Hope" campaign will fund the food bank's 10-year plan to establish a hub-and-spoke system that will distribute healthier food to the pantries and agencies in the bank's 13-county region.About 1 in 6 North Texans lives with "food insecurity," a term used by the USDA to describe being unsure where your next meal will come from, said Simon Powell, the food bank's interim president and CEO. It affects includes children, people with low-paying jobs and older people on fixed incomes."We literally have a crisis on our hands," Powell said. "The sad thing is it is solvable. There is plenty of food to go around, and then some."Ross and Margot Perot's five adult children primed the campaign with a lead gift of $10 million. Other major gifts have brought the total to $40,050,000 as of Friday. The food bank's goal is to reach $55 million this year.  Continue reading...