Demands Exceed Supply at North Texas Food Pantry

At a large mobile food pantry event in Dallas on Wednesday, all supplies ran out before all families were served.

The shortage shows the tremendous issue of hunger, even in booming North Texas, that the North Texas Food Bank is working to address.

The line of waiting cars ran far down the Highway 67 Marvin D. Love Freeway feeder road well before the 10 a.m. start time for the food pantry at Greater Providence Baptist Church. More vehicles wound through a cue in the church parking lot.

Sylvia Tatum, who drove one of those cars, said it is very tough to make ends meet these days with soaring inflation on the cost of everything.

“It's very hard. It is. It's very much appreciated,” Tatum said.

She was among the lucky ones to make it to the front of the line.

Organizers expected to place goods in 250 cars at the third mobile food pantry held at the church for nearby families in need.

“Most people just see the outside. They don't know what's going on behind somebody's closed doors. And this just proves the point. When you look at how many people are in line right now, how many people we've already served and how many we're going to continue to serve,” said Marcellus Moses, Chairman of the church board of deacons.

They wound up serving 400 families before the food supplies ran out.

David Pena drove one of the last few cars served.

“I think it's something that a lot of people greatly need, what they are doing here. So, we really appreciate it. A lot of us are going through hard times and this is all we've got,” he said.

More people still waiting at the curb when the supply ran out were turned away.

In response to an elevated food crisis for many families in North Texas, the North Texas Food Bank has launched a $500 million dollar ‘Nourish North Texas’ fundraising drive to expand the response to hunger and address barriers to feed security.

More information on NTFB programs can be found here.

“We don't want our neighbors to have to choose between ‘Do I eat food today or do I pay my rent?’ We want to make sure they always have food and so that's why we are serving here and in all the local areas,” NTFB coordinator Chloe Ysaguirre said.

Six more mobile food distribution events are planned this week in North Texas:

Fresh Route Distributions:

• 1/6/2023  Friday 9a-12p  Iglesia Adventista del Septimo Dia Dallas, 3751 Merrell Rd,  Dallas TX 75229

Community-led Mobile Pantry Distributions:

• 1/6/2023  Friday 9a-11a Jireh's Tabernacle Worship Center, 1228 Newsome Rd,  Mesquite  TX  75149

• 1/6/2023  Friday 10a-12p  Our Savior Lutheran,  3003 Horizon Rd, Rockwall TX  75032

• 1/6/2023  Friday 9a-11a  North Colony Church of Christ,  6404 Paige Rd,  The Colony, TX 75056

• 1/6/2023  Friday 9a-11a  Ferris Junior High, 1002 E. 8^th  St, Ferris  TX 75125

• 1/7/2023 Saturday 9a-11a  Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Sandbranch, 129 Burns Dr,  Seagoville, TX 75159