Three feeding programs will begin next week in Decatur, including a new mobile food pantry designed to provide assistance year-round.
Beginning Tuesday, May 30, Decatur Cares will once again provide food distribution to qualified applicants each Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. at Young Elementary School, 379 Buchanan Road, throughout the summer.
Vic Morton, president of Decatur Cares, said the program is expected to serve more than 100 families this year, the most ever. Families who qualify for free or reduced lunch programs at school also qualify for the summer feeding program.
In addition to picking up healthy food, participants will once again have the opportunity to attend classes provided by the local AgriLife Extension Agency on topics such as healthy cooking. At last Tuesday’s kickoff, Decatur Cares participants received a skillet, and the classes will include how to use them to cook healthy meals.
Decatur ISD is once again providing hot breakfasts and lunches for all children ages 18 and under each weekday from May 30 through Aug. 8 at Young Elementary. The school is able to offer that program through the Department of Agriculture.
On Tuesdays, families with the Decatur Cares program will have the opportunity to eat meals at the school with their children.
DISD will also offer meals May 30 through June 22 Monday through Thursday at Decatur High School, 750 East Eagle Summit Drive, during summer school.
Menus will be available on the district’s website, www.decaturisd.us.
Decatur ISD and Decatur Cares, as well as other entities such as the Wise Area Relief Mission (WARM), AgriLife Extension Agency and local churches have also partnered with the Tarrant Area Food Bank to provide a mobile food pantry the first Saturday of every month in Decatur beginning June 3.
The mobile food pantry will be in the parking lot of the Decatur ISD Administration Building, 702 E. Carpenter St., and be open 9 to 11 a.m. The food bank will deliver an 18-wheeler full of food the first Saturday of every month throughout the year, and volunteers will help distribute the food to those in need in our area.
“The issue of hunger is very real in every community, which is why we’re all partnering together to ensure that people get the food they need,” said Bo Soderbergh, executive director of the Tarrant Area Food Bank, in a news release. “It’s shocking when people learn that one of six people in our local area doesn’t have enough food to eat. These organizations who have come together in Wise County are making sure that no one has to go hungry.”
The food pantry will include about 80 percent fresh produce.
Anna Coker, who is heading up the mobile food pantry efforts, said volunteers are lined up for the first couple of Saturdays, but anyone wishing to serve with the mobile food pantry in the future should visit the Decatur Cares Facebook page in the coming weeks for information on how to volunteer. Coker said organizers are hoping that in addition to individuals and churches, that area businesses will also volunteer to help with the mobile food pantry.
Coker added that people who come to receive food from the mobile food bank should bring something to carry their groceries.
