Food Bank: 1 in 5 Central Texas kids goes to bed hungry

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Summer break is not always a good thing for all Central Texas families with food insecurity on the rise.

“Last summer, district-wide, we served about 20,000 meals,” Chris Weddle, Del Vale ISD executive director of communications, said.

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Del Valle ISD is one of many districts in Central Texas that offers free meals during the summer, not only to students but to community members, as well.

“During the school year a lot of our families depend on our school meals and that is really an extension of that into the summer,” Weddle said. “We are very proud to be able to open up five of our locations for summer meals for anyone in the community 18 and under to come.”

Bahar DiFranco, who has three kids in Del Valle ISD, said she’s happy to see these programs.

“It allows us time to be together, the kids like coming to the school,” DiFranco said. “It helps financially because then I don’t have to think about… do I have enough groceries? Or what am I going to cook for them tonight?”

The program is federally funded through the summer meals program.

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Central Texas Food Bank tells KXAN they doubled their output of meals this summer.

“Last year, we served 2,400 meals a day, and this summer we are serving 5,000,” Central Texas Food Bank CEO Sari Vatske said.

Vatske said there are a number of factors playing into the increase in needs.

“There are layoffs, the cost of living has increased, pandemic benefits have sunset and so we are really just seeing a confluence of factors come together,” Vatske said.

Central Texas Food Bank serves 21 counties around Central Texas.

“In the 21 counties we serve about one in seven Central Texans goes to bed hungry and that number is a staggering one in five for children,” Vatske said.

As the need increases, Central Texas Food Bank is continuing its work to help people in need and areas in need like Del Valle.

“In areas like Del Valle, we have food deserts and so we are looking at innovative solutions to help reduce hunger during the critical times,” Vatske said.

Vatske said collaboration is key in identifying underserved areas then figuring out what solutions can be implemented.

“That is why we have convened community partners to do a needs assessment, we are looking at data with our research team, elected officials to see what makes the most sense in those underserved communities,” Vatske said.

Del Valle ISD tells KXAN they are waiting on state approval for a school meal program that will offer free meals to all elementary and middle school students next school year.

by: Nabil Remadna

Posted: Jun 12, 2023 / 04:37 PM CDT

Updated: Jun 12, 2023 / 06:40 PM CDT