Galindo Elementary School celebrated the official opening of a campus food pantry with a ribbon cutting Jan. 14.

The details

The food pantry offers fresh produce, protein, shelf-stable products, dairy and other pantry staples received from the Central Texas Food Bank.

Galindo Elementary parent Linda Santos said the pantry, which is available for all Austin ISD families to use, opens the door for both families to access essentials such as food.

“The word is ‘opportunity,’” she told Community Impact. “I think the goal here is to keep the opportunity to ask for help and get help. Our kids are the end goal.”

Central Texas Food Bank, who is collaborating with AISD on the initiative, replicated a market-style setup for visitors to choose from a selection of products. The setup creates a more comfortable environment for those utilizing the space and “reduces the stigma” of using food pantries, CTFB President and CEO Sari M. Vatske said.

Santos said the new pantry encourages parents to feel comfortable asking for assistance and utilize resources available to them.

“As parents, we're ashamed of asking for help,” she said. “We stray away because we're embarrassed of our circumstances, but if you have a food pantry where your kids go to school, it's more likely that you'll reach out for help and put your feelings aside for the betterment of your children.”

The big picture

Travis County faces a childhood food insecurity rate of 20.9%, which is higher than the 17.9% national average, CTFB officials said.

An estimated 61% of students at Galindo Elementary rely on free or reduced lunch and about 88% live in an economically disadvantaged home, according to CTFB.

AISD Superintendent Matias Segura said the pantry will help address food insecurity in Galindo and across the district.

“In [AISD] we support families across the city that have varying needs beyond academics,” he said in a news release. “Partnerships like the Galindo Pantry with CTFB make it easier for our families to get what they need and keep their kids nourished and ready to learn.”

The opening of the Galindo food pantry marks the first launch of a Feeding Futures School Pantry within AISD. Feeding Futures is a CTFB program that focuses on increasing food access to students from lower-income households. Feeding Future pantries are Title I, primarily elementary schools and have a high rate of students enrolled in free or reduced meal programs, according to the news release.

As part of the program, CTFB provides food to the Galindo pantry and will restock the pantry once every two weeks, CTFB Marketing and Communications Vice President Noelle Newton said. As more families use the pantry, restocking will occur once a week. Pantry equipment, including refrigerators, are sponsored by Texas Capital Bank.

CTFB has provided resource support at another AISD school—Zavala Elementary School—but has not had a CTFB pantry launch within the district until now, CTFB officials said.

AISD and CTFB selected Galindo as the campus for the first launch among a list of 14 schools within the district, CTFB Vice President of Network Programs and Services Anurita Mittra said.

Going forward

Santos said she hopes to see more pantries opened across schools in Austin and for everyone to use the available resources.

“This opened the door to more opportunities for other schools to also join in,” she said. “This is a good positive thing for us and this is something to be proud of. We're looking out for each other. Everybody eats.”