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With Increased Demand For Food Help, Fort Worth Organizations Bring It To People's Doors

Eric Gay
/
The Associated Press
Volunteers help the San Antonio Food Bank distribute food to more that 2,000 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

More North Texans are struggling with hunger at a time when it’s harder to leave the house than ever — so some local organizations are delivering food to people who need it.

The Tarrant Area Food Bank has seen a 40% spike in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But food bank president and CEO Julie Butner said people who are sick or worried about getting sick can't make it to food distribution sites. 

That led Catholic Charities Fort Worth to start making food deliveries.

“They act as the last mile,” Butner said. “So they come and pick up the food from our distribution center, and they are the ones who actually drive it out to the individual’s home.”

Catholic Charities CEO Michael P. Grace said some of his organization’s transportation fleet was idled by the pandemic, freeing it up for deliveries. They’re also making runs for Meals on Wheels.

Grace said Catholic Charities usually focuses on families’ longer-term economic goals, but that’s changed somewhat with the economic devastation of the pandemic, which he compared to a hurricane.

"The impact of that event, that natural disaster, can last years. It can take families years to get back on track,” Grace said. “We have a natural disaster, a pandemic, that's infected the entire world."

As a result, Catholic Charities will be helping with food deliveries for the foreseeable future.

Find The Nearest Food Site Or Get Food Delivered

Call Catholic Charities Fort Worth at 817-534-0814 and choose option 1 between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @mirandarsuarez.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

Miranda Suarez is KERA’s Tarrant County accountability reporter. Before coming to North Texas, she was the Lee Ester News Fellow at Wisconsin Public Radio, where she covered statewide news from the capital city of Madison. Miranda is originally from Massachusetts and started her public radio career at WBUR in Boston.