By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor

Jackson County Farm Bureau provided financial support to two local food relief entities and doubled the impact through the Texas Farm Bureau Feeding Texas Co-op Contribution Program.

Over the summer, the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent and Helping Hands of Jackson County each received a donation of $500 from Jackson CFB to help with area hunger relief efforts.

“We had many small businesses shut down throughout the summer due to the governor’s orders,” Lacey Bayer, Jackson CFB president, said. “Restaurants, local boutiques, salons and the like were all hit really hard and a lot of people were out of work.”

Food Bank of the Golden Crescent is located in nearby Victoria County. The food bank supports over 100 agencies in an 11-county service area and helps feed nearly 30,000 local residents, more than half of whom are children and seniors.

In an average year, Golden Crescent distributes about 5.5 million pounds of food, but the agency’s director told the Jackson CFB board of directors that food distribution has increased twofold each month since the pandemic began in the U.S.

“She said in May alone, they donated 1.4 million pounds of food, and that number has nearly doubled every month since then,” Bayer said. “The need is very urgent and very real.”

The donation was made on a day when Golden Crescent was in Jackson County to distribute food. Bayer said the number of cars waiting in line to receive food aid was staggering.

“There were so many cars there. It was definitely eye-opening,” she said.

The $500 donation from Jackson CFB paired with some direct donations from an area bread bakery and distribution center would provide more than 8,000 meals to local residents.

Helping Hands of Jackson County, a local food pantry, was also experiencing a marked increase in clients and is struggling to meet demand.

“The Jackson County Farm Bureau board of directors decided to donate to Golden Crescent and Helping Hands, because we recognized that with the loss of jobs and income in Jackson County, people still need to feed their families,” Bayer said. “We had heard the food bank struggles in Jackson County to get donations and volunteers, so we were glad to help out at home and give back to our own communities.”