Since April of 2020, United Way of Southern Cameron County implemented its program “United Against Hunger” where they distribute thousands of food bags every Friday so that those who have been impacted the hardest due to the pandemic could have food on their table.
Even though there’s been stimulus checks and federal unemployment bonuses during the past year, officials at United Way of Southern Cameron County say the need has been steady in the area.
This month, the Biden administration announced its Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue plan which provides automatically monthly payments of $250 or $300 per child for most families.
“Our food distributions remain steady, we are grateful however that federal assistance is now available to those in our community, the fight against hunger is so substantial that it makes any help of great value,” Emily Rodriguez, of Get Shift Done at United Way of Southern Cameron County said.
As of Friday, this program has donated 350,000 food bags that include 128,000 from the Friday mass distributions and approximately 222,000 distributed through partnering agencies.
Rodriguez said when the program started, they had no idea the degree of food insecurity in the community. She said it was eye-opening to see the program shift from servicing 400 families to 1,000 in a matter of weeks. As of right now, serving more than 1,000 families per week is the new normal.
“For now, United against hunger is active, however, we are doing our best to shift our focus on the best practice that will continue tackling the fight against hunger in our community,” Rodriguez said.
Chief Executive Officer Traci Wickett said they are thankful for the foundations, individuals and corporate funders who made this work possible. She added the upturn in the economy and the availability of jobs has lessened food insecurity in a dramatic way.
“Now United Against Hunger will turn our attention to those who remain vulnerable to hunger—the elderly,” she said.
“We are committed to finding ways to increase our elderly neighbors’ access to the food they need to remain healthy and independent.”
As part of the emergency relief to those who suffered the most economic impact during the pandemic, United Way of Southern Cameron County also launched its “Get Shift Done” program where community members can pick up shifts at Good Neighbor, Brownsville Wellness Coallition, Ozanam Center, Salvation Army, the Food Bank RGV, Amigos del Valle and the Food Distributions that take place Fridays.
In June, this program was recognized as number one in Fast Company’s 2021 World’s Top Most Innovative Companies under the Not-for-Profit category.
“The first thing that people think of during a crisis is food, the second thing they think of is how will they get money to buy the food,” Rodriguez said.
“This program went hand in hand with just that. COVID-19 Recession’s effects on food, employment hardships, and the economic fallout have been widespread and remain particularly prevalent among our community. We are pleased to have witnessed the gap being filled with our United Against Hunger program,” Rodriguez said.
