This year marks the first year the food bank partnered with the Austin Board of Realtors Foundation to assemble the bags.
How we got here
The food bank’s service area covers 21 counties and 540,000 food-insecure individuals, including over 150,000 children, said Sari Vatske, Central Texas Food Bank president. These numbers are up from about 460,000 last year, which is higher than the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To put it in perspective, she said, this means:
- About 16.5% of Central Texans are food insecure, compared to the national average of 13.5%.
- Texas ranks as the second-highest state in the country facing food insecurity.
“As [ABoR President] Kent [Redding] mentioned, when kids aren't in school, they don't have access to free or reduced[-price] meals, but also what I like to call is the ‘triple threat’ we see families face,” Vatske said. “The cost of cooling a home increases, and then having to figure out day care can really be a perfect storm. Folks tend to think that holidays are the busiest time of year for us, but it's really the summer when kids aren't in session.”
What you need to know
Vatske said the bags—which include a beef jerky stick, an applesauce pouch, a fruit strip, trail mix, veggie crisps and two Clif Bars—will be distributed to school districts, nonprofit organizations and more throughout the food bank’s 21-county service area at the start of the school year.
“Once school starts and kids don’t have access to food over the weekend, these backpacks help supplement that,” Vatske said.
Information on how to receive the weekly snack bags or assistance through other programs at the food bank, as well as volunteer and donation opportunities, can be found on the food bank’s website.
