BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — Unfortunately, hunger doesn’t take a summer break.
Once school’s out, thousands of Central Texas children no longer have free or reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches. When combined with higher utility bills to combat the Texas heat, you end up having more than 400,000 central Texans relying on the food bank.
School districts that do offer summer food programs for children also depend on the food bank, which has had a tough year overall.
“We have 36 agency partners across the 6 counties that we serve and they’re all in need,” said agency relationships manager Robert Martin.
In 2023, thousands of Texans lost their SNAP benefits due to a change in requirements, and the food bank is still seeing the aftermath of this.
Martin continued, “Our agency partners and mobile pantries are seeing an increase in families that are visiting. For Brazos we’re seeing about 400 people a month and Madisonville close to 200 people.”
Inflation and vacations during the summer also add to the decrease in community outreach during a desperate time for the food bank.
“We’re also seeing less donations so this would be a great time to give donations, cans, funds or even your time," Martin said.
One volunteer is actually looking to leave a lasting impact on food bank clients beyond meals.
Volunteer and A&M Medical student, Samantha, Pozo explained her plan, “We’re gonna start a screening clinic for blood pressure for the community here because we know hypertension and thins of that nature are deemed silent killers and hopefully that will continue to be a thing even after we graduate and move on.”