PROGRAMS
The heart of the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank mission is feeding people in need through partnerships with nonprofit agencies.
Feedback from our partners helps us monitor hunger in the region and develop strategies to better fine-tune the food assistance operation. Our programs are carefully designed to meet identified needs and work toward our vision: eliminating hunger in North Texas
SOCIAL
SERVICES
The Wichita Falls Area Food Bank has joined a network of food banks across Texas working to better educate individuals of state-funded social services and health care programs that are available, such as SNAP (Food Stamps), Medicaid, Women's Healthcare Program, CHIP, and TANF. (Unfortunately, we cannot help with applying for WIC benefits. Please call (940) 761-7815 to make an appointment).
The Social Services Coordinators can set up application completion centers at different locations throughout the Food Bank service area. The centers offer hassle-free sign up services including assistance filling out applications, making copies of documents, and delivering completed applications to the correct agency.
The Food Bank does not determine eligibility for any aid program. It does, however, make sure all applications are filled out completely and correctly.
For more information on the Social Services Program serving Baylor, Foard, Haskell, Knox, Wichita and Wilbarger, call Alice Canales Flores at 940-636-8240; for Archer, Clay, Jack, Montague, Throckmorton and Young Counties, call Pam King 940-249-4962.
HUNTERS FOR THE HUNGRY
Hunters for the Hungry is a statewide hunger relief program providing healthy protein to needy Texans. The program alleviates hunger and malnutrition in Texas by distributing donated venison to needy Texans while promoting environmental stewardship and providing a meaningful way for hunters to help their communities.
How does it work?
Feeding Texas administers the Hunters for the Hungry program, coordinating with meat processors, food assistance providers, landowners, hunters, and state agencies. Through the program, hunters can donate their legally tagged, field-dressed deer at participating meat processors across the state. The hunter contributes a nominal fee to cover processing costs. Meat processors prepare and package the venison, then contact local food assistance providers who distribute it to needy families and individuals.
How much does it help?
During the 2012-2013 hunting season, nearly one hundred meat processors donated over 140,000 pounds of meat to food assistance providers. Since the program’s inception over 20 years ago, it has provided over two million pounds of meat – or an estimated 9.3 million servings – to hungry Texans. Over 62 percent of food assistance providers in Texas report needing more protein sources (meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, nuts) to serve their clients.
GOOD BUY
HUNGER
The requests for some staple food items always exceed supply. To keep pace with our partner agencies' needs, we must buy items like ground turkey, canned meat, canned vegetables, macaroni and cheese dinners, peanut butter and jelly.
The Good-Buy Hunger! Food Purchase Program was launched in early 2005 and has become a key strategy for keeping a nutritionally balanced inventory of high-demand, low-supply foods. Because we purchase in large bulk quantities, we can get a lot of "bang for a buck" from donations to Good-Buy Hunger!
For a downloadable fact sheet
FOOD
SALVAGE
Providing enough quality food to the 180 partner agencies in our 12 county service area would be impossible without the help of our Food Salvage program. The Wichita Falls Area Food Bank collects perishable and non-perishable foods from local grocers, companies, individuals, and other Food Banks on a regular basis. After a rigorous evaluation process, the products are then separated into multiple categories and distributed to our partner agencies.
WFAFB employees who handle food directly have Food Handler cards from the Wichita County Public Health District and two employees are ServeSafe Certified from the National Restaurant Association. The WFAFB’s staff members follow strict food handling guidelines to ensure that the food safely reaches the people who need it. WFAFB partner agencies also receive training on proper food handling procedures.
For a downloadable fact sheet
PRODUCE
EXPRESS
Our Produce Express program kicked off in October 2013, and is a mobile distribution of fruits and vegetables. Two refrigerated trucks, with pre-packed bags, are taken to where clients are able to receive food directly from the truck.
Through our Nutrition Education Department, recipe and preparation cards are prepared and distributed with the bags of produce. Since a large amount of our clients have never worked with vegetables like eggplant, or butternut squash, these prep cards give step by step instructions of how to cut and prepare, as well as a breakdown of the nutritional content.
The impact on both supply and demand for produce has intensified in our 12 county area. As such, produce will be directly distributed from the refrigerated truck to selected areas. Due to some of our agencies incapacity to store produce, the Food Bank’s direct distribution is a vital piece of this puzzle. You might ask “Just What Is a Food Desert?” USDA defines it as an urban neighborhood and/or rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. Instead of supermarkets and grocery stores, these communities may have no food access or are served only by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer few healthy, affordable food options. The lack of access contributes to a poor diet and can lead to higher levels of obesity and other diet related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.
For a downloadable fact sheet
RECYCLE
FOR FOOD
Turn your trash into cash that will help feed the hungry while keeping our community clean and green! Drop off your aluminum cans at the Food Bank, and we'll take them to a local recycling center.
All proceeds from our recycling program are used to buy food for those less fortunate.
