Odessa American- Anonymous donor 'meats' food bank needs
Odessa American- Anonymous donor 'meats' food bank needs August 23, 2011
The hungry people of West Texas will be able to get their fill of chicken, at least for a few weeks.
Earl Graham, food bank coordinator for the West Texas Food Bank, said an anonymous donor gave a matching donation of $11,500 to cover the second half of a semi-truck full of 42,000 pounds of frozen chicken. Chuck Sturgeon of NC Sturgeon Construction donated the first $11,500 and issued a challenge for someone to match it after food bank meat supplies ran out.
“This will literally be a two or three week supply,” Graham said.
Donations are also feast or famine, and right now, larger companies just aren’t giving like they used to, Graham said.
The frozen meat won’t be able to reach everyone equally, Graham said, because not all agencies who receive the meat have freezers to house large quantities, but a truck of canned tuna would have cost $88,000 and canned chicken would have been $44,000. People need protein and like meat, but canned beans make money go a lot further, Graham said.
For those who wish to help, donations can be made to P.O. Box 4242, Odessa, Texas, 79760, or call 432-580-6333 for more information.
The food bank covers more than 45,000 square miles in 22 West Texas counties, from Odessa and Alpine to El Paso
