Alpine Avalanche - December a "Make or Break" Month for WTFB

By Amanda Tilley reporter@alpineavalanche.com Alpine Avalanche | 0 comments

"December is our make-or-break month," says Paige Phelps, West Texas Food Bank's director of Marketing and Community Relations. "This is going to determine how we do for the rest of the year and the upcoming year, and how many people we can feed, basically."

The holiday season is when most people think about giving, and Phelps is hoping that West Texans are looking to give to their local food bank.

"We're all thinking about gifts for other people, and this is the kind of gift that's going to make you feel really, really good," she said.

The West Texas Food Bank, which covers 22 counties and serves 60,000 clients a month, accepts monetary and non-perishable food donations throughout the year; every dollar donated to the food bank equals four meals. The food bank's donations and distribution are up 30 percent from the same time last year.

"It's been really, really amazing. We have some people stop by three times a week and say ‘I just want to give a food donation,' which is just really heartwarming," Phelps said. "It makes me feel good that people are reading and listening and they know that their neighbors are in trouble."

Even though the food bank is in a better position than it was last year, it still needs donations.

"We're always thin; we're never going to have too much stuff," Phelps said. "We can't just not worry about getting donations."

Since this time of year means not only the holiday season, but also deer hunting for many Texans, the West Texas Food Bank is hoping to capitalize on the generosity of the state's hunters.

This year the food bank is participating in Hunters for the Hungry. Through this program, hunters can donate deer that will be processed and given to food bank clients. The food bank only has to pay for processing, which is cheaper than buying meat directly from a grocery store. Donations are also being accepted to help offset the cost of processing. Sixty deer have already been donated to the food bank, and the Buena Vista High School FFA in Imperial is processing them.

Another new thing the food bank tried this Thanksgiving was giving clients vouchers for a turkey instead of the actual bird. The $10 vouchers could be used at any local retailer. Phelps said the vouchers were nice because it put money back into the local economy and saved the food bank money by not having to purchase, transport and store the birds. West Texas Food Bank gave out about 6,500 vouchers, with 695 going to families in the Big Bend. The food bank hopes to be able to do the same at Christmas, but Phelps wasn't sure whether there would be enough money.

Even though more food is coming in and more people are being served, everything isn't perfect at West Texas Food Bank. The trucks that are used to transport and distribute food have seen better days.

The food bank has exceeded its transportation budget for the year ,and with a 30 percent increase in the food being handling, it's a problem. Phelps described the food bank's trucks as a "pretty paltry fleet" and said some of the vehicles are on their last legs, which is something that needs to be remedied.

"We need to focus not just on food but the fundamentals, making it so that everyone can rely on the food bank at anytime. We need to be ready for anything," Phelps said.

Donations that come into the food bank are used for food, so there's a need to look elsewhere for help with the trucks.

If a business would like to have naming right on the trucks, Phelps said she would be happy to talk about an arrangement.

"We'd be happy to do some sort of marketing partnership and spread the word about their business if they can help us with ours," she said.

She stressed that food is still the first priority for the food bank, but the organization is just trying to "get their ducks in a row" to make West Texas Food Bank as successful as possible.

"If we don't have to worry about our trucks, we can worry about food; if we don't have to worry about leasing a building, we can worry about food," Phelps explained.

West Texas Food Bank employees and volunteers aren't the only ones worrying about bringing food and donations in.

More community groups and churches have been contacting the food bank about how to help.

"A lot of people are really starting to tie us in to their campaigns and holiday stuff. Especially in Midland and Odessa, and we'd like to see it more down here, but we're just excited that people are starting to think about us when they think about a charity and that's important to us," Phelps said.

"It's imperative that people know that we're here and what we do. We're hoping that they'll make December a gift of food."