Biggest loser a winner for South Texas Food Bank
By SALO OTERO
South Texas Food Bank Director of Development
The campaign is called the Biggest Loser. But the winners are Feeding
America’s food banks across the nation.
Feeding America is the national food bank network that includes 206 food
banks, including the South Texas Food Bank in Laredo. Feeding America has
teamed up with the NBC television show, the Biggest Loser, to bring
awareness and raise funds to fight hunger in Laredo.
The Biggest Loser is a pound-for-pound weight-loss contest that has
pledged 14 cents per pound pledged by viewers who sign up. As of this past
week, Laredo has a team of 55 who have pledged to lose a combined 1,785
pounds. That means the local food bank has $250 in pledges.
Cindy Liendo Espinoza of the South Texas Food Bank is coordinating the
event locally. Espinoza said, “Feeding America gets the donation just for
making a pledge and they distribute the money. We are encouraging people
to sign up and to support each other in losing weight.
“We’re promoting a healthy lifestyle and weight loss is certainly
healthy. It benefits the person and the South Texas Food Bank mission of
feeding the hungry. It‘s a win, win for all concerned.”
The South Texas Food Bank’s 1,785 pounds to lose ranks 15th in Texas.
The top-ranking belongs to Houston with 1,511 team members pledging to
lose 47,596. The event runs through June.
For information contact Espinzoa on facebook and twitter at facebook
(South Texas Food Bank) and twitter: www.twitter.com/SoTxFoodBank
Information nationally is available at www.pfpchallenge.com/tx
The food bank is a non-profit 501 c-3 organization that serves people from
birth to death. Tax deductible donations can be sent to PO Box 2007,
Laredo, Tex., 78044. The phone number is (956) 726-3120 and website,
www.southtexasfoodbank,org The food bank, at 1907 Freight and Riverside in
west Laredo, is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.
As of December of 2009, the South Texas Food Bank served 21,000 families
per month, including 6,000 elderly and 6,000 children in an eight-county
area, where the poverty rate is one of the highest in state at between 32
to 40 per cent. The food bank distributed a record 9.2 million pounds of
product in 2009. “The need is in our own backyard,” noted food bank
executive director Alfredo Castillo.