WEST, Texas — The West Texas Food Bank saw a busy month in May with one million pounds of food being distributed throughout West Texas to close to 25,000 households in 19 counties.
With the help of the National Guard, both locations in Midland and Odessa distributed 8,100 pantry boxes along with proteins, fruits, and vegetables.
With May being a glorious month of matches, following a donation of ground beef from the Midland Meat Company and Firebird Energy as well as HEB, May 5, was designated as Giving Tuesday.
However, Libby Campbell, Executive Director of the West Texas Food Bank, expresses how many of those in need has never been to a food bank or pantry before.
“It is easy to view the numbers from the month of May with rose-colored glasses, and paint the picture of what is going on around the Food Bank as a ‘win,' but we must also not lose sight of the fact that the record numbers we are seeing are from our neighbors who are in crisis, and as many as 74% of the people we are serving have never been to a food bank or pantry before, and I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we don’t anticipate these record numbers going down. With the Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans quickly running out, and without swift action from lawmakers in D.C., we could see another devastating round of layoffs and cuts in our West Texas workforce, and we still have not fully reopened our economy following COVID closures. I fear the worst is yet to come.”
