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Highlights of the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent
Food banking had its beginning in the late 1960’s in Phoenix, AZ. The concept was developed by a retired businessman, John Van Hengel. Mr. Van Hengel was a volunteer at a local soup kitchen and noticed that much edible nutritious food was going to waste because it was mislabeled, over-produced, or not marketable. In 1979, under the leadership of Mr. Van Hengel, the Second Harvest National Food Network was created. Today, 205 Food Banks are in operation in the United States, 19 of which are located in Texas.
Locally, The Community Food Bank of Victoria began operating May 16, 1986. Executive Director, Amelia Salinas, while working with a child abuse prevention program, noted that hunger was an underlying problem in most abuse cases. A ten month feasibility study was conducted that included gathering information from Food Banks in Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi, & San Antonio. Support was enlisted from the H.E.B. Grocery Chain, and permission given from Second Harvest National Food Bank Network to move forward. Amelia received a donation of a small building and the Food Bank was born.
The H.E.B. Grocery Chain continues to be instrumental in the success of the Community Food Bank with donations of not only food, but equipment, training, and financial support. In 1986, the Community Food Bank provided support to seven counties. The Food Bank was moved to several donated buildings as the operation grew, until 1993 a Capital Campaign was launched to construct a facility designed specifically for the unique needs of a Food Bank. The Food Bank is now housed in a 19,000 sq. ft. debt-free building that was built for $568,000 with money raised from grants from foundations such as the Meadows Foundation, M.G. & Lillie A. Johnson Foundation, Wood Family Trust, and Mabee Foundation.
The Community Food Bank of Victoria became a Certified Affiliate of America’s Second Harvest in 2000 and a member of the Texas Food Bank Network, a state association of 19 food banks. Community Food Bank also became a member of Food Chain, a prepared and perishable food program, inspected yearly by Second Harvest National Network Guidelines, and by the state and local Health inspectors. The Food Bank also was selected to receive U.S.D.A. commodities through the TEXCAP program. In 2005 the Community Food Bank changed its name to the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent (FBGC) to identify better with its 11 county service area.
Today, FBGC is the support system for more than 100 agencies in a 9,963 square mile service area which includes eleven counties: Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Refugio, Wharton, and Victoria. In 2008 the Food Bank distributed over 3.1 million pounds of food and related products to agencies participating in our food distribution program. These agencies report providing nearly 250,000 meals in 2008 through soup kitchens, emergency food boxes, church pantries, or senior citizens programs. Presently FBGC is planning to launch 4 Backpack and 1 Kids Café programs that provides an after school hot meal and tutoring for children at risk of hunger. FBGC is also planning to initiate a Mobile Food Pantry to reach rural communities where there are no agencies to serve at-risk populations.
The 2009 Budget of $747,559 is comprised of United Way funding, Agency Shared Maintenance Fees of 19 cents a pound for food and related products, grants from foundations, corporations, and monetary donations from businesses, and individuals. Fund Raising events are also an important factor of the budget. Food donations are received from the H.E.B. Reclamation Center, Wal-Mart & Sam’s stores, Performance Food Group of Victoria, Texas Department of Human Services (USDA Commodities), other Texas Food Banks, local food chains & retailers, the Stevenson Prison Unit in Cuero, local rice farmers and community food drives. FBGC has a staff of 8 full-time and 3 part-time workers and 130 active volunteers. In 2008, volunteers contributed 3,442 hours (valued at $41,304) working to: sort, clean and repackage food; fill food orders, help with administrative duties in the office, and other related tasks.
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