Filling the gaps
The pantry serves about 150 families per week. Nearly two decades ago, that numbers was only 50 families per month, Horner said. It's also expanded its services beyond food, helping eligible families pay electric bills, apply for food stamps and land job interviews.
As the city has grown, so has people's need for food. More than 11 percent of the city's residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011-2015 American Community Survey.
Sanders spreads an $800 monthly Social Security check to pay her bills and buy food. The Cedar Hill resident has raised her four granddaughters — the youngest of whom is now 15 — since they were babies because of their mother's drug problem, she said.
Even with food stamps, it wasn't always enough to feed herself and her granddaughters, she said. Cedar Hill Shares filled in the gaps.
"She helped me," Sanders said, pointing to Sims. "Four granddaughters, and she fed them all."
