Courtesy of Stacy Agee Martin, Fortress YDC
Volunteers arrive in family groups to pack and deliver meals.
The Tarrant Area Food Bank has seen the number of people needing food rise by 40% since the pandemic emerged — this is, in part, a result of people suddenly losing their jobs and not having a reserve of food.
“This is the most consequential pandemic of the century,” TAFB CEO Julie Butner says. “Nobody expected this to hit when it hit.”
The issue is especially hurting students who rely on free meals at school. Throughout the year, students have access to free or low-cost meals through the National School Lunch Program and the Summer Food Service Program, but COVID-19 has increased the need for food and amplified the challenges that come with acquiring it.
TAFB is one of several local organizations working to fight the issue of hunger in Fort Worth. At mobile distribution sites, the TAFB is supplying children with food that is easy to open and can be eaten without preparation or cooking.
Another group, Fortress Youth Development Center, is focusing its efforts on groceries and school supplies.
Prior to the pandemic, Fortress held a preschool, an after-school program for elementary students, and parent engagement activities for local families dealing with generational poverty. Though COVID-19 caused Fortress to halt in-person gatherings, executive director Stacy Agee Martin says the staff has continued to serve its families by creating online course materials for its preschool students and by providing them with food, school supplies, and social and emotional support.
“Once you build relationship and you’re in relationship with people, you can’t just stop,” Martin says.
Volunteers at Fortress have been dropping off food to 115 children in the 76104 area since the pandemic emerged, and the organization has partnered with Blue Zones Project Fort Worth to distribute 300 bags of produce to families once a week for four weeks this summer.
Fortress is one of three groups receiving grocery and produce bag deliveries from Blue Zones Project, the other two being LVTRise in west Fort Worth and the Northside Boys & Girls Club. According to Blue Zones Project, over 5,400 pounds of food have been provided to Fortress, and another 11,000 pounds of food have gone to other partners.
With the help of Z’s Café co-founder Carlo Capua, whose own Crisis Meal Project also provides food to needy families, Blue Zones Project supplies fresh produce to Fortress and other organizations throughout the city; Fortress then distributes the groceries to the local communities.
The partnership with Fortress allows Blue Zones Project to fulfill one of its Power 9 principles — to encourage people to eat more plant-based foods.
“This was specifically in response to what we knew was an emergency need in the community for food,” says Matt Dufrene, vice president of Blue Zones Project Fort Worth.
