Commissioner hands out food to senior citizens

County officials organized a food drive targeting Brownsville’s senior citizens Thursday morning in a collaborative response to concern over pandemic-related food insecurity.

County Commissioner Pct. 2 Joey Lopez passed out bundle bags filled with canned goods, rice, pasta, peanut butter, and fruit juice to residents lined up in cars.

Volunteers greeted drivers with information on how to complete the 2020 Census and special bags they can use to properly dispose of medications instead of throwing them in the trash.

Lopez said he worked with Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, based in Hidalgo County, to distribute the supplies across the communities.

The food bank donated roughly 500 bundles of food for the event, which the county then supplemented with educational material for the distribution.

County employees in masks and gloves loaded bundles into the trunks of cars. The team estimated they’d distributed 200 bags within the first hour.

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