Wells Fargo and the North Texas Food Bank are teaming up to provide more than 87,500 meals to families in need. The meals were handed out at a drive-up food bank Monday morning in Irving. Volunteers spent the weekend making sure the meals are ready to be distributed.
Bags of rice, cornbread and cans of veggies were just a few of the many items placed into emergency meal boxes.
“They are feeding a lot of people, it makes me very happy to see this,” volunteer Amy Bowyer said.
Bowyer was one of more than two dozen volunteers from corporate and service groups who lent a hand to pack up over 30,000 meals for families who would otherwise go without.
“There are so many people that are out of work and struggling to make ends meet,” volunteer Phillip Pesek said. “To be able to spend our Saturday to give them a hand, it's fantastic.”
The North Texas Food Bank has received a record number of requests during the pandemic. Almost 40% of them come from people who are seeking food assistance for the very first time.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“This is a reminder that there are so many people that are affected by the current economic landscape and what is happening with this virus,” said Erica Yaeger, NTFB Chief External Affairs Officer. “It's quite the endeavor to make sure we're able to keep up with the elevated need in the community.”
An endeavor that Yaeger said was only possible through the support of an entire community.
“We know that the impact of COVID-19 on those that we serve will be long-standing, especially the most vulnerable populations that work paycheck to paycheck, so we expect to be operating at an elevated capacity for quite some time,” she said.
The first drive-up food bank will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Monday at Wells Fargo at 6051 N. State Highway 161 in Irving.
Three additional ones will be held throughout North Texas through September 4. Details for each event can be found on the North Texas Food Bank website.
