COVID-19 eroded the Houston Food Bank’s army of 85,000 volunteers, many of whom have yet to return. Meanwhile, service demands are higher than before COVID as Texans continue to rely on charity to combat skyrocketing inflation.
“I wouldn't call it precarious,” said Houston Food Bank President and CEO Brian Greene. “But it is tight right now.”
A year later, Williams was tapped as the organization's director. He was 23 and knew almost no one in Texas. The Food Bank’s first few years were tough, he said, with questions about oversight, licensing and sanitation standards, and fears that the mostly volunteer groups might distribute spoiled or expired foods.
From its headquarters at an old department storefront in northeast Houston, the Food Bank’s first staff convinced local TV stations to air donation drives and raise awareness of the hunger issues faced by many of Harris County’s 2.7 million residents. It wasn’t enough. “More go hungry despite all efforts,” read one 1985 Houston Chronicle headline. “‘New poor' straining local food aid programs,” read another headline in 1986, as Texas unemployment reached near-record highs and the Food Bank disbursed 7.5 million pounds of food, more than the previous three years combined.The Food Bank has played a crucial role after every economic crash or natural disaster since then.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former Food Network Star Found Guilty of Killing Her 3-Year-Old Foster ChildAriel Robinson, former contestant and winner of 'Worst Cooks in America,' was found guilty of homicide by child abuse in the death of her 3-year-old foster daughter, Victoria “Tori” Smith.
Read more »
The Italian place where you don't eat 'Italian' foodForget pizza and pasta, this remote Italian town is serving up perch, pike and eel. Visitors say it’s like nowhere else in Italy. This Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, SearchingForItaly explores the rural region of Umbria.
Read more »
One Couple embarks on a Fermented Adventure of food, drinksThey've gone to over 750 places in the world trying various fermented drinks and foods.
Read more »
War-fueled food inflation will cause social unrest, UN official saysA perfect storm of war, extreme weather and Covid-19 will drive global food prices to levels that will cause social unrest in some parts of the world, according to David Beasley, head of the United Nations World Food Programme.
Read more »
Uber to test delivering food with robotsUber is the latest company to try delivering food to people's homes with robots.
Read more »