South Texas Food Bank plans month of tours
The South Texas Food Bank continues its 20th anniversary celebration this
month with open house tours of the facility at 1907 Freight at
Riverside.
During January, daily tours of the food bank are planned from 9 a.m. to
noon and 1 p.m. to 4 Monday through Friday. The first day of tours is
Monday, Jan. 4. Food bank personnel is urging groups to make
arrangements for tours by calling (956) 726-3120. Special tours can also
be arranged on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon. Individual tours are
also welcome.
South Texas Food Bank executive director Alfredo Castillo noted, “We’ve
been fulfilling the mission of feeding the hungry for two decades.
People have read and heard about, and seen our mission in action.
During this open house month , we hope Laredoans come and see where it all
starts.”
The Lamar Bruni Vergara South Texas Food Bank building is located in west
Laredo, one block south of Calton Road.
The South Texas Food Bank, a Feeding Ameica affiliate, had a
record-breaking 2009, distributing 9.1 million pounds of product in an
eight-county area that stretches from Del Rio to Rio Grande City. The
previous high was 8.6 million pounds set in 2005.
The food bank’s role in the community is to distribute supplemental food
to the needy. Those who qualify as “needy” are individuals and families
living under the state and federal poverty guidelines. They include those
on fixed incomes, the under-employed and unemployed.
And the need in our South Texas is huge as one of the most impoverished
areas in the state and nation. The South Texas Food Bank now serves 21,000
families per month, among them 6,000-plus children and 6,000-plus elderly.
The food bank is the 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. It is also on face book and twitter
at facebook (South Texas Food Bank) and twitter:
www.twitter.com/SoTxFoodBank
The South Texas Food Bank’s 20th anniversary celebration started in
December with a one mile hunger walk at the North Central Park.
The food bank opened in December of 1989 as the Laredo-Webb County Food Bank in the back room of what is now the H.E.B. on Calton Road. The
H.E.B. store chain was the principal corporate partner in the venture. The
board of directors consisted of civic-minded Laredoans and some H.E.B.
employees. Charter board member Erasmo Villarreal is the current
president of the board. The board committee chairs are Danny Cuellar,
finance; Felipe Perez Garcia, food coalition; Anna Benavides Galo,
development; Olga Maldonado, speakers’ bureau; and Kevin Romo,
public-policy programs.
The four-month long 20th celebration will continue in February with
special events at the 12 South Texas Food Bank Kid’s Cafes.