- Sand Castle Days Continued Despite Unexpected Weather
- Ready for District
- Discussion of Garbage Dumpster Rates, Agreements Between State & City on Highway Regulations, and More
- 31st Annual Shrimp Cook-Off is Right Around the Corner
- LFHS Cross Country
- Local Company is Helping People With a Mission in Mind
- Valley Native Bringing Advanced Oncology Services To UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center
- Los Fresnos Annual Cook-Off Is Right Around The Corner
- Los Fresnos Falcons Hold Meet and Greet for the Community
- Los Fresnos Locals Open Up a New Business in Town
Los Fresnos Community Food Pantry provides vital resource
- Updated: May 28, 2020
By TONY VINDELL
LFN
LOS FRESNOS – A local organization made up of volunteers has been playing a vital role by providing consumer items to those in need of some of the basic staples, and more so, right now when food has become not just more valuable, but also a scarce commodity.
The Los Fresnos Community Food Pantry is a non-profit entity that has been helping the community for the past 20 years.
An average of 500 people stop by on a monthly basis at 810 W. Ocean Blvd., which is a building owned by a local church – the Community of Christ.
The food distribution takes place the third Friday and Saturday of each month, and each recipient gets a 40- to 50-pound box filled with food staples, including rice, beans, bread, pasta and canned goods such as tomato sauce. On some occasions, they also get chicken, eggs and milk.
But since the pandemic began in mid-March, the food pantry’s roster of recipients has increased by about 150 people making the work of the volunteers harder and those receiving the staples more challenging.
The next food distribution is scheduled for June 19 and 20.
The pantry has been spending more than $700 a month buying products from the Food Bank of the Rio Grande and is now in need for more funds to cope with the increased demand.
Teresa Silva, LFCFP coordinator, said to be eligible for the program a person fills out an application and, whenever the time comes up for a food distribution, they call people by choosing their names based on the alphabet table.
The food pantry has also been distributing fruits and vegetables donated by a store on a daily basis.
Recently, the volunteers prepared three bags and waited for people to show up.
Juanita Herrera was one of them.
“I am very grateful,” she said after a food pantry volunteer placed a bag in the back of her vehicle. “Grateful for what they do for the community.”
To provide the services it has been doing for two decades, LFCFD largely depends from the support it gets from the local church and from donations it gets from other sources such as from citizens and businesses.
Anyone interested in helping out is encouraged to write the Los Fresnos Community Food Pantry at P.O. Box 678, Los Fresnos, Texas 78566, call 956-524-3034 or 956-233-6475, or email [email protected].
