What you need to know
HCFB is in the process of relocating to the former Hays Co. Bar-B-Que building at 1612 I-35 frontage road in San Marcos. HCFB is currently remodeling the space and has not yet started to move into the new location, according to Executive Director Lisa Young.
The new location has two buildings that are twice the size of the current building, according to Young. One building is going to be a dry goods warehouse and the other will house a larger cooler and freezer.
Additionally, one of the buildings will have a “client-choice” area where residents will be able to make appointments to choose their groceries from the stock, with HEB donating shelving for the space. This is an alternative to the emergency box program, though the emergency box program will remain.
There isn’t a current set date for the opening of the relocation.
Sorting out details
HCFB administrative services are going to be the first to move to the new location, so both locations will be running parallel as food distribution operations begin to transfer over. Young also said HCFB clients will get advanced notice of when food distribution changes to the new location.
Why it matters
In 2023, HCFB served 1.3 million pounds of food, according to their website. The HCFB distributed 1.6 million pounds of food in 2025, according to Young, representing a 15.38% increase from two years before.
According to previous reporting by Community Impact, the Central Texas Food bank found that there has been a 27.9% increase in food insecurity in Hays County and 41.26% increase in food insecure individuals.
The background
HCFB is currently housed in a 2,200-square-foot building at 220 Henderson St., originally designed as a residence.
Due to space limitations, Young said the food bank has had to turn down some larger orders because of the challenges of accommodating 18-wheelers at the site, as well as certain food distributions due to insufficient storage capacity.
The new space was bought in May 2024.
