How a local food bank fights food insecurity one meal at a time

Jul 16, 2012

(V/O) Brian Greene: If today is a typical day in the Greater Houston area, about fifty-three thousand people will go hungry, and about thirty-six hundred of them, children. Houston Food Bank’s role in the community is leading the fight against hunger.

SUPER: Brian Greene, President/CEO, Houston Food Bank

Brian Greene: When you walk into any supermarket you see just, huge selection of everything looking perfect. Well in order to make it like that, we also have an incredible amount of waste. What we try and do is capture those products that are perfectly good, and then redistribute it out through our network of over five hundred charities. Most of the programs we serve our pantries that provide food boxes for families in need. We also specifically target children, as well as seniors.

Jeremy Evans: These meals are going out to meals on wheels for the elderly. Everything that you see here is made from the food bank.

SUPER: Nicholas Lopez, Volunteer, Houston Food Bank

Nicholas Lopez: Volunteering is essentially The Houston Food Bank. We would not be able to run without the amazing volunteers that we have here.

(V/O) Brian Greene: We have children, as young as eight years old, that volunteer here. We have many adults, many senior citizens. We pursue youth groups, corporate groups

SUPER: Kim A Ruth, Business Banking, Bank of America

(V/O) Kim Ruth: Bank of America has volunteers who come out here on a regular basis. We have a philosophy that if we live in a community, and we work in a community, we need to be involved in it and we need to give back.

Brian Greene: Serving for Success, is a job-training program for inmates from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who otherwise would have a very difficult time finding employment.

SUPER: Jeremy, Intern, Houston Food Bank

Jeremy: I found out about the Houston Food Bank in my probation office. Just got the opportunity to hone off my cooking skills. And really got me thinking about going into some sort of food service.

Brian Greene: Bank of America has been a supporter of Houston Food Bank for many years. We were the recipient of the Neighborhood Builder’s Award which is two hundred thousand dollars. That is huge for us and we’re using them to provide so much more food in the community.

Kim Ruth: We have a matching gifts program where if I, as an employee of the bank, make a contribution up to five thousand dollars, to the Food Bank, the bank will match it dollar for dollar. The bank has given about five hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Houston Food Bank really over the last four or five years.

Nicholas Lopez: I love my job here at the Houston Food Bank. It’s not only fun to work here, but, at the end of the day you just know that you’ve done something great.

(V/O) Brian Greene: We’ve built an infrastructure that can really take a much bigger hit on hunger than we’re doing now. But we can all address problems such as health, education, job training. Things that will make a long-term difference in people’s lives, as well as alleviate hunger in the short run.

Nearly 1 million people in Southeast Texas are unable to access the food they need to live healthy lives, with many residents running a monthly deficit of $52 for food costs. Their situations vary – some live at or below the poverty line, others earn too much to be considered impoverished, and some may just be experiencing a temporary setback – but all are all in need.

Since 1982, the Houston Food Bank has worked to address this critical need. A certified member of Feeding America, the Houston Food Bank serves as the largest source of food for nearly 500 hunger relief agencies in 18 Southeast Texas counties, including church food pantries, homeless shelters, safe havens for the battered and abused, and nutrition sites for children and the elderly.

When Hurricane Ike struck the region in 2008, it disrupted the economy and left many residents unemployed. Homes and businesses were destroyed and the region lost power for two weeks. After operating uninterrupted for 26 years, the Houston Food Bank faced unprecedented need. Wanting to ensure that the Houston Food Bank could provide food during this critical time and continue being a resource for Southeast Texas hunger relief agencies, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation provided a $50,000 emergency grant to the organization.

“When Hurricane Ike hit the region, we distributed almost 20 million pounds of disaster relief supplies,” said Brian Greene, Houston Food Bank President. “We knew that it could take up to three days before supplies from FEMA and other organizations would arrive to the region, but thanks to the support of Bank of America and our network of 500 partners and volunteer programs, we were able to help people get the food they needed during those first critical days.”

Bank of America continued its support for the food bank over the next several years, contributing hundreds of volunteers and an additional $535,000 in grant funding, including a safety net grant in 2010, and an unrestricted grant of $200,000 in 2011 as part of the food bank’s selection as a 2011 Bank of America Neighborhood Builder.

“Before Bank of America provides volunteer or financial support to an organization, we first look at the organization’s impact,” said Kim Ruth, Houston Market President and Texas State President for Bank of America. “The Houston Food Bank is a critical component of Houston and the Southeast Texas region. It provides a large safety net for the region and allows people to access the food they need in partner food pantries throughout a 600 square-mile area, and we’re proud of our continued support.”

With the support of companies like Bank of America, the Houston Food Bank is now entering its 30th year of service and providing almost 60 million nutritious meals to close to 900,000 people annually in the communities of Southeast Texas.

Join the conversation: Learn how we’re working to help strengthen communities on the Bank of America Facebook page.

How a local food bank fights food insecurity one meal at a time

Website Ad Practices