Hays County Food Bank prepares for the holidays

For the 17th year, the Hays County Food Bank will provide holiday meal boxes filled with foods needed to make a festive and nutritious homecooked Thanksgiving meal.

The boxes will include a frozen turkey and ingredients for traditional Thanksgiving side dishes. Qualifying households may sign up at turkeys. haysfoodbank.org to reserve their meal box while supplies last.

In order to qualify for this program, a household must meet one of the following requirements. For example, the household income should be at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level. Another criteria is participation in a qualifying government assistance program such as SNAP, Medicaid or the National School Lunch Program. A family may show that they are experiencing a temporary food emergency is one other qualifying criteria.

The food bank noted that supplies are limited and holiday boxes will be available to families in need on a first-come, first-served basis.

The individual registered for the holiday meal box must be in the vehicle when picking up the holiday box, organizers stated. If that individual cannot be in the vehicle, a proxy must be assigned prior to picking up their meal box. Call the food bank for further information.

Each household may only receive one holiday meal box. The USDA defines a household as residents at an address who share resources such as food and money. Roommates, family members and others who live at the same address but do not share resources are considered separate households.

Everyone who signs up for a holiday meal box will receive one at their designated distribution.

There is no need to come early. For example, those wishing to come during the second half of the distribution time may potentially reduce their wait time.

There is both an English and a Spanish form. For additional assistance signing up online, call (512) 392-8300, extension 225. Phone lines are open Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish.

Donations needed

This holiday meal box program is funded by the food bank’s Turkeys Tackling Hunger Campaign. Each meal box costs approximately $30 to create, and donations are needed, according to Hays County Food Bank officials.

The food bank is encouraging members of the community to be the reason that a family has an opportunity to give thanks this holiday season by donating now at bit. ly/TTHDonate.

For anyone that would like to become a sponsor for this year’s Turkeys Tackling Hunger, contact Iris Tate at [email protected]. If you would like to volunteer for meal box distributions, contact [email protected].

In 2022, Hays County Food Bank and its 20-plus partner agencies distributed an excess of 1 million pounds of food to food-insecure households. On average, 12,000 individuals were provided food assistance monthly. These residents were senior citizens, children and many others who regularly face economic challenges.

'Food insecurity' refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. Hays County Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the public to perform its mission. For more information, visit haysfoodbank.org or find the nonprofit on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at @HaysFood-Bank.