By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Charitable organizations in the small towns of Blanco and Johnson City work hard to provide hunger relief and other services to families in need.
These organizations rely heavily on donations and volunteers to fund and staff operations. And like other small non-profits, Combined Community Action (CCA) in Blanco County was feeling the pinch of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy and availability of volunteers.
Then Blanco County Farm Bureau (CFB) stepped in to help CCA with a $2,000 donation to the Meals on Wheels Rural Capital Area program, thanks in part to Texas Farm Bureau’s Feeding the Need co-op contribution program.
“CCA is a multi-county food bank, but they also assist with utility bills, provide case management for children and pregnant women who need help,” Blanco CFB President Glenn Sultemeier said. “We knew they needed our help this year, and as a board, we decided the best way for us to help was to donate to Meals on Wheels.”
Many of the elderly clients served by Meals on Wheels are homebound, and many more are still cautious about leaving their homes during the pandemic.
“We talked to the lady in charge and asked that she earmark this money for Meals on Wheels in Blanco County only,” he said. “Their organization serves six counties, but all of our money is raised in Blanco County, so we wanted to make sure it was spent here.”
Last year, Blanco CFB gave three sizeable donations to the food banks in Blanco and Johnson City, so they wanted to do something a little different.
“We give to the food banks annually, and when we didn’t have a lot of meetings this year, we took some of that leftover county money we’d normally use for those expenses and sent it to the food bank,” Sultemeier said. “When the Feeding the Need co-op contribution program was announced, we knew we could help in another way, and it ended up being Meals on Wheels this time because it’s such a worthy cause.”