CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
According to Feeding America, in 2021, over 5 million seniors experienced food insecurity, that's when people can't access the food they need to live their fullest, most nutritious lives.
Now that the Coastal Bend Food Bank has moved into their new facility, they are working to make sure local seniors never have to wonder about when or where their next meal will come from.
The food bank is feeding around 750 seniors through their pantries open in 11 different counties. Now, with more space in their new facility, they're looking to provide over 2,000 seniors with monthly food packages through the USDA’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
"We're working on growing that program," Senior Program Manager Megan Tedder said. "Since we have a bigger facility, we're able to house more food and be able to reach more seniors in those 11 counties,"
The Supplemental Food Program will allow the Coastal Bend Food Bank to supply seniors with a box of food every month.
Executive Director Bea Hanson said the food bank has been looking to grow their elderly services for some time and is glad the new facility will finally allow them to expand.
"One of the areas where we really need to grow is to serve the elderly population, especially in the rural communities," Hanson said. "This is a great opportunity for us now that we have enough space to accept this new program. A lot of the elderly folks that we serve already live on a limited income, so all they have is their social security check, so what we're doing is extending their ability to purchase food by giving them enough food every month."
Chief Nursing Officer at Christus Spohn Hospital Kleberg, Laci Lasater Charles said having a resource like the Coastal Bend Food Bank makes all the difference for seniors who don't have the ability to access the nutrition they need.
"The resources and the things that they're providing to this population is just immeasurable," she said. “Our senior citizens, the elderly population, specifically to South Texas, so much of their health and wellbeing depends on exactly what they're going to eat. If they don't have all their nutritional needs met, they are more in danger of their health deteriorating.”
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