Feeding Hope
Take a look at all we’ve accomplished together this year.
Message From Our CEO
ERIC S. COOPER
PRESIDENT & CEO
It is such an incredible gift to witness the daily compassion of our community. Too many are facing a new season of need – driven by inflation in housing, healthcare, and food – but each of you inspires me and my team by your generosity, your willingness to sacrifice, and to share.
Your gifts of food, volunteer time, philanthropic support with funds, and your willingness to tell our story and hold us in prayer, are the gifts that sustain our community and allow us to set the table for over 100,000 each week.
With the addition of the Concho Valley Food Bank added to our oversight during the pandemic, we now steward a 29-county region with a population of nearly 2.5 million.
Within those counties, we helped 725,000 unique individuals last year with food support. Together, we set the table for kids, seniors, active and veteran members of our military, the disabled, and working adults with a temporary need. It was 125,000 of you all who helped us meet that need with gifts from every corner of those 29 counties.
I am in awe that 1 in 3 people in this vast expanse of Southwest Texas had an engagement with us – some in their season of need, others in their season of giving. Neighbor helping neighbor. Schools helping schools. Communities helping other communities. Our greatness shines through when we serve and give.
The new year is well upon us, and this newsletter will give you a good update as to the state of the Food Bank and where we are headed.
There is growth in our organization: the addition of a parking garage, an expanded and renovated farm, and construction of our housing effort at the New Braunfels Food Bank. In addition, there are new programmatic services underway: additional home deliveries for homebound neighbors, medically tailored meals for those facing chronic disease while lacking the funds for such meals, as well as increased job training and job placement.
Thank you for being the gift that brings life and light to our community. Together, we build a more secure San Antonio.
Message From Our Board Chair
PAMELA BUTT
H-E-B (RETIRED)
As we welcomed 2023, we were reminded of the wonderful beginnings the new year brings. We also use the new year as a time to look back at the last 12 months to celebrate the year’s successes and reflect on the challenges that may have been set in our path.
As I look back over the past year, I am reminded of the strength of our community and our mission to end hunger.
Over the last six months, I’ve had the honor and privilege to serve as Board Chair of this amazing organization. In those few short months, I have seen the need for food and services increase with the continued rising costs of food, the supply chain shortages, the lack of living wages, the cost of healthcare, the cost of childcare, the cost of transportation, and weather-related obstacles like power outages and water shortages.
Despite these challenges, the San Antonio Food Bank has not wavered in its service with the increased need. The Food Bank has continued to grow and fight hunger head-on as they have done for the past 43 years.
I am constantly reminded of the Food Bank’s passion for service, the unwavering support from the incredible staff that makes it all happen, and our gracious community donors, both individuals and corporations.
Hunger does not discriminate. It hits all aspects of our community. Fighting hunger takes all of us to look out for each other and to lend a hand. If you have given your time, donated food or funds, or assisted the Food Bank in any way, on behalf of the Board of Directors, we thank you!
“Fighting Hunger… Feeding Hope,” is not just a saying, it is our way of life.
Serving 29 Counties
Across Southwest Texas
From our home base in San Antonio, Texas, to our diverse rural communities spanning across Southwest Texas, the San Antonio Food Bank provides resources and services to our neighbors facing hunger.
We believe that no child should go to bed hungry, adults should not have to choose between a hot meal and utilities, nor a senior sacrifice medical care for the sake of nourishment.
Serving over 105,000 individuals a week in one of the largest service areas in Texas, our approach to fighting hunger in our community is for clients to access Food for Today, Tomorrow, and a Lifetime.
Providing Food For Today, Tomorrow, And A Lifetime
Ways we secure immediate food access for our clients in need:
Food Pantries
Curbside Distributions
Pop-Up Markets
Pet Food Assistance
Ways we help our clients access resources to stabilize their lives:
Benefits Assistance
Children’s Programs
Community Kitchens
Senior Programs
Ways we guide our clients to self-sufficiency:
Job Training
Nutrition Education
Agriculture Initiatives
Gloria’s Story
Making Sure ALL Family Members Have Food
Gloria Hernandez has lived in San Antonio, Texas for the past 30 years.
When Gloria met her future husband, she was 14 years old, and he was 16 – it was love at first sight. At 21, she married Cruz Hernandez, and they embarked on the journey of starting their family.
Growing up with a big family – Gloria with nine siblings, and Cruz with eight siblings – they envisioned the same for their family. Three years into their marriage, they were delighted to discover that Gloria was pregnant.
“When I was six months pregnant, my baby was born but did not survive. It was then I found out that I couldn’t have children,” she said.
Devastated, Gloria gave her husband the opportunity to leave their marriage knowing they both had dreamed of a big family. However, Cruz reminded her that he fell in love with her alone and that they vowed to love each other until death do they part.
“Marriage can have difficult times, but the secret to a long marriage is to respect each other, to listen – really listen, and above all to have understanding. We may both have our own opinions, but we respected each other in our differences,” she said.
Gloria and Cruz have had dogs throughout their marriage. One would call them pets, but they didn’t.
“Our dogs are our babies, they are family. We currently have 2 dogs – Ozo, a half German Shepherd mix, and Chiquita, a long-haired chihuahua. They are everything to us. They are our children, our family,” she said.
In January of 2020, what some would recognize as the silent start of the pandemic, Gloria and Cruz got sick. Gloria was able to recover from her illness, but Cruz experienced insurmountable difficulties.
“At the time, I wasn’t able to see him face-to-face, as I was still getting better. I remember the doctor explained to me that his condition was worsening hour by hour. He was afraid that my husband had little time left. When I walked into the hospital room, my husband told me he loved me. Then, he laid his head down, closed his eyes, and never woke up,” she said.
Gloria was married to Cruz for 30 years. His passing left a void that no other person would be able to fill. In her battle with grief, she would turn to her family – her pets.
“All I have left are our babies. Ozo and Chiquita are my life. Our lives together as a family got harder after my husband passed away,” she said.
For Gloria, the sole responsibilities of maintaining a household was difficult, especially with the added stress of missing her husband. Amidst inflation, she found putting food on the table daily for her and her pets to be a daunting task. She asked herself, “Do I get food for me or for my dogs?”
It was then that she turned to the San Antonio Food Bank for help in keeping her family together.
“The San Antonio Food Bank has been there for me. Not only do I get food for myself, but they give me pet food for my fur babies. I work 50 hours a week as a waitress. My body feels worn, but I keep going. I rely on tips to make it through the week, but sometimes I need the extra help and the Food Bank has been a lifesaving component.”
The San Antonio Food Bank recognizes that pets, like food, are love. Pets offer companionship and help us through life’s challenges. Together, with support from our community, we offer pet food assistance to help keep families together.
Last year, the Food Bank served more than 60,000 pets with emergency food, allowing neighbors like Gloria to provide for ALL members of their family.
Gloria Hernandez has lived in San Antonio, Texas for the past 30 years.
When Gloria met her future husband, she was 14 years old, and he was 16 – it was love at first sight. At 21, she married Cruz Hernandez, and they embarked on the journey of starting their family.
Growing up with a big family – Gloria with nine siblings, and Cruz with eight siblings – they envisioned the same for their family. Three years into their marriage, they were delighted to discover that Gloria was pregnant.
“When I was six months pregnant, my baby was born but did not survive. It was then I found out that I couldn’t have children,” she said.
Devastated, Gloria gave her husband the opportunity to leave their marriage knowing they both had dreamed of a big family. However, Cruz reminded her that he fell in love with her alone and that they vowed to love each other until death do they part.
“Marriage can have difficult times, but the secret to a long marriage is to respect each other, to listen – really listen, and above all to have understanding. We may both have our own opinions, but we respected each other in our differences,” she said.
Gloria and Cruz have had dogs throughout their marriage. One would call them pets, but they didn’t.
“Our dogs are our babies, they are family. We currently have 2 dogs – Ozo, a half German Shepherd mix, and Chiquita, a long-haired chihuahua. They are everything to us. They are our children, our family,” she said.
In January of 2020, what some would recognize as the silent start of the pandemic, Gloria and Cruz got sick. Gloria was able to recover from her illness, but Cruz experienced insurmountable difficulties.
“At the time, I wasn’t able to see him face-to-face, as I was still getting better. I remember the doctor explained to me that his condition was worsening hour by hour. He was afraid that my husband had little time left. When I walked into the hospital room, my husband told me he loved me. Then, he laid his head down, closed his eyes, and never woke up,” she said.
Gloria was married to Cruz for 30 years. His passing left a void that no other person would be able to fill. In her battle with grief, she would turn to her family – her pets.
“All I have left are our babies. Ozo and Chiquita are my life. Our lives together as a family got harder after my husband passed away,” she said.
For Gloria, the sole responsibilities of maintaining a household was difficult, especially with the added stress of missing her husband. Amidst inflation, she found putting food on the table daily for her and her pets to be a daunting task. She asked herself, “Do I get food for me or for my dogs?”
It was then that she turned to the San Antonio Food Bank for help in keeping her family together.
“The San Antonio Food Bank has been there for me. Not only do I get food for myself, but they give me pet food for my fur babies. I work 50 hours a week as a waitress. My body feels worn, but I keep going. I rely on tips to make it through the week, but sometimes I need the extra help and the Food Bank has been a lifesaving component.”
The San Antonio Food Bank recognizes that pets, like food, are love. Pets offer companionship and help us through life’s challenges. Together, with support from our community, we offer pet food assistance to help keep families together.
Last year, the Food Bank served more than 60,000 pets with emergency food, allowing neighbors like Gloria to provide for ALL members of their family.
Together
We Nourish 105,000 Neighbors Each Week
Whether it is donating food, time, money, or your voice, there are many ways you can support the San Antonio Food Bank’s mission of feeding hope to our community.
Alfonso’s Tamales
FOOD
Formed locally in 2012, Alfonso’s Tamales has proudly sold millions of tamales to clients across the state of Texas. In December 2022, they began a food partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank and have since donated 6,400 dozen tamales to help fight hunger in our community. Their gift of nourishment helps provide hope to families facing hunger across Southwest Texas.
Tina and Ryan Mann
TIME
Tina Mann is a mother of six who set off to teach her children the importance of helping others. Her youngest son, Ryan, is a wheelchair user and previously didn’t volunteer with his family. Having volunteer opportunities for all ages and abilities, Tina’s entire family was welcomed at the San Antonio Food Bank. “Instead of seeing all that he couldn’t do, [the Food Bank] saw all that he would be able to do,” she said.
The Kessel Family
MONEY
As monthly Core Club donors, the Kessel family’s gifts provide nourishment year-round. “The San Antonio Food Bank’s mission is close to our family’s heart. We love giving back as a family and spending time volunteering, attending fundraisers, and spreading awareness to others in support of this great organization. We know food is a basic need, and we want to help those in our community as much as we can,” they said.
Downtown Run Group of San Antonio
VOICE
The Downtown Run Group of San Antonio exercised their advocacy for the San Antonio Food Bank when members of their crew ran in the Food Bank’s Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. They then shared their experience on Instagram Reels, garnering over 2,200 views!
Advocating
For Change In Our Community
The San Antonio Food Bank Government Relations team is planning advocacy strategies for 2023 legislative efforts to secure resources for our neighbors throughout Southwest Texas.
Federal
Working with our national partners in Feeding America and the Food Research and Action Center, advocacy around the Farm Bill and Child Nutrition Reauthorization continues to be at the forefront of the Food Bank’s federal legislative priorities. At the end of 2022, we participated at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in Washington, DC where a commitment was made at the federal level to work to end hunger by 2030.
State
At the state level, the 88th State Legislative Session began in January, and we’ve been working with Feeding Texas and the Texas Food Policy Roundtable regarding our State Legislative Priorities:
- Advocating for an increase in funding for our Produce Agriculture Grant in the Texas Department of Agriculture’s budget
- Indexing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Vehicle Asset Test for inflation to better reflect today’s car values
- Improving college completion rates by combating college hunger through maintaining access to SNAP for low-income students enrolled in vocational and technical degree programs
- Supporting people exiting the criminal justice system to enroll in SNAP by implementing pre-release registration
- Focusing on health by improving health outcomes and reducing state healthcare costs by piloting a Medicaid reimbursement program for medical nutrition programs (e.g. Food RX and Medically Tailored Meals)
Local
We continue to meet with rural counties across our 29-county service territory to implement our Secure Rural Community Coalition Project.
Last year, we conducted more than 40 meetings in 15 rural counties, specifically focusing on local Government, School Districts, Housing Authorities, Law Enforcement, Veteran Service Officers, Emergency Operations Centers, Healthcare, and others discussing issues and challenges facing rural communities.
This work resulted in strengthening and expanding our partnerships and developing strategies to secure and prepare communities that count on us.
Growing
To Meet The Needs Of Our Neighbors
Our campus has grown over the years, and we’re excited to announce new infrastructure upgrades that will help provide better services to everyone who visits the San Antonio Food Bank.
This spring, the Food Bank will break ground on a parking garage at our main campus, located on the westside of San Antonio. The 300-space garage is being built to accommodate the traffic growth from volunteers, visitors, and neighbors seeking help. Designed by Elevate Architecture, the new garage is anticipated to be ready in spring 2024.
The garage will be built on the northside of the campus, adjacent to Historic Old Hwy 90. The addition of the garage will mean a move for the Food Bank’s teaching garden and Daisy’s Barn area. These components will be relocated to the Food Bank’s 25-acre urban farm, located on the southwest corner of our campus.
The move of the teaching garden and barn will allow us to build out the urban farm area. New elements will include a bridge into the farm, paved parking, and much more. The urban farm upgrades will also take place throughout 2023 and 2024.
We are excited to see our campus grow and develop to meet the needs of the community. Regular updates will be shared on our website as both projects, garage and farm, develop over the coming months.
Spring
Into Action By Attending Our Signature Events
Support the Food Bank while enjoying one-of-a-kind experiences all spring long at our signature events.
From the fashion event of the season to 18-hole championship golf courses, there is something for everyone.
All proceeds from our signature events go toward nourishing our neighbors.
Every $1 raised helps us provide 7 meals in our community.
6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
SAN ANTONIO
FOOD BANK
After a three-year pandemic hiatus, Runway is back! Join fashionable and philanthropic Hunger Fighters for the San Antonio Food Bank’s one-of-a-kind fashion affair. This year’s theme, Around The World In 80 Days, promises unique, worldly looks on the catwalk.
9 AM START
THE CLUB
AT SONTERRA
Be among the first to enjoy the beautiful terrain of two 18-hole championship golf courses at our new location, The Club at Sonterra. Proceeds from Doing Good on the Green support the San Antonio Food Bank and the New Braunfels Food Bank.
6 PM – 9 PM
THE DOMINION
COUNTRY CLUB
Taste of The Dominion is a tasting event hosted by The Dominion Country Club benefiting the San Antonio Food Bank. This event brings attendees together to enjoy small bites from over 30 local restaurants and features a cash bar, music, and a silent auction.