Sparse shelves at the food pantry
The Resource Center food pantry has been hit by shortages of food. Some of the food distributed comes from the North Texas Food Bank.
Jan Pruitt, director of the NTFB, said 36 of 134 tractor trailer loads of food ordered are on hold because they weren’t purchased prior to the shutdown.
“It’s not going to impact us until the holidays,” she said. “I’m concerned about that because if you don’t turn the government back on, 1.2 million meals will be impacted.”
While the USDA supplies only about 20 percent of the food distributed by NTFB, it acts as the safety net and is a source of constant supply.
She said after having “an extremely difficult summer,” NTFB has put out pleas for food and volunteers.
This month the group Gay for Good is volunteering at the Food Bank to sort and process donations.
Pruitt warned if the government shutdown continues, “we will not have food in December.”
She said 800,000 people in North Texas are food insecure.
Meanwhile, the Resource Center food pantry continues to operate with slimmer than usual supplies and community groups are encouraged to continue collecting.
Pruitt said the Resource Center may be in a better position than many of the more than 250 pantries the NTFB helps supply because of a strong community that supports it.