“I don’t buy things that I used to buy,” grandmother Elizabeth Woods told WFAA.
DENTON COUNTY, Texas — On Tuesday morning, the Tarrant Area Food Bank hosted its first mega mobile distribution in Denton County, and hundreds of families took advantage of it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever recalled a time that it’s been so hard,” grandmother Elizabeth Woods told WFAA.
She helps feed her grandson, she said.
“I only receive social security, and so, with the rent, and the utilities, and the car payment…it gets kind of difficult to get stuff done.”
Another grandmother, Dora Hernandez, was just behind Ms. Woods in line.
“We’re short because of inflation,” she chimed in.
“The meat, especially the meat and vegetables, went up a lot. Once in a while you find something on special, but I just get what I need. Nothing extra, cookies or things like that, just what I need.”
“Right now, the need is higher than it was at the highest point of the pandemic,” Julie Butner, president and CEO of TAFB, told WFAA.
“Food inflation is now close to 14 percent in some places as much as 17 percent,” she said.
Folks at the distribution received several different items of food intended to make the holidays easier.
“My grandkids want tamales [for Christmas],” Hernandez said.
“I’m going to see what I can scrape up for tamales.”
“This will definitely help with dinner come Sunday,” added Woods.
People also received donated gift items at the distribution, like beauty products, children’s toys and kitchen items.
TAFB will continue to target Denton County, which is experiencing tremendous growth, in the new year.
A list of the food bank’s mega distributions can be found here.