BRIAN, Texas (KBTX) – A Brazos Valley Food Bank program dedicated to helping people access food, regardless of their disability, may soon be gone.
The GotEM project started during the pandemic, but will end next summer. This special program was created during the pandemic to help those who are unable to visit the pantry in person. Home delivery ensures people have access to nutritious, shelf-stable food.
Shannon Avila, program director at the Brazos Valley Food Bank, said there always needs to be a way to reach people who don’t have access to an established “physical network.”
“They didn’t have access to our network for a lot of other reasons … physical limitations and all that. That’s what the program was originally designed to serve,” Avila said.
The program is still growing, but funding for the GotEM project is expected to run out by next summer.
“In the process, what we hope to learn from Project GotEM is to understand what people are falling through the cracks,” Avila said. “Who can’t access our network and why?”
Now, the food bank’s team is making sure that people who use the program are directed to other resources.
“It looks like working with a senior service organization to get a premium package or apply for SNAP or access WIC,” Avila said.
According to Avila, the Brazos Valley Food Bank and its partners rely on generosity to feed an exceptional community. She also emphasized that funding for the GotEM project should run out by June 2023, but with community support, there is still hope.
“Community support is very important to what we do here. Our mission is to unite our community and nourish our neighbors in need,” Avila said. “The community is intentionally involved because we have to be supported by the community. Whether it’s working with partners, donating money, donating food, donating time…all of these help make our network strong.”
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