ODESSA, Texas — "We're just bracing for the impact," Craig Stoker, Director of Marketing, WTFB said.
That impact being more than double the number of people they normally serve at the West Texas Food Bank.
"October of last year we distributed a little over 620,000 pounds. This past October we distributed a little over 1.3 million pounds," Stoker said.
And now that the holiday season is here, they're expecting even more families to drive through their distribution sites.
"You also see an uptick during the holidays. Again, because it's just a time of need," Stoker said.
So they're stocking up.
"To prepare for the holiday season is really just staying on top of making sure we have food in our warehouse, making sure that we have pantry boxes packed to go out through our distribution lines," Stoker said.
To make this happen, they've been getting help from small and socially distanced groups of volunteers.
Turkey donations normally come in left and right from local grocery stores around this time, but this year the food bank has decided that money and donations are better served in their day-to-day services.
"When you're a family struggling to put food on the table maybe a turkey and all the Thanksgiving fixings is not the right way to help that family, so we wanted to be really aware this year just to make sure that maybe instead of one large holiday meal, they were able to feed their family for 2 weeks," Stoker said.
The need right now is for many daily meals, not one special meal.
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Holiday hours at the West Texas Food Bank: