BRAZOS VALLEY, Texas — The Brazos Valley Food Bank is on a mission to end senior citizens going hungry. According to the food bank, Texas has approximately 9.5% of seniors that are at risk of hunger.
The Brazos Valley Food Bank is using its senior outreach program to bridge the gap of food insecurity among the elderly.
”That helps when they’re not mobile because they're not able to get to the stores or they’re not able to get to the pantries in time,” said Suzanne Powers, Elder Aid executive assistant.
The food bank works with 11 different community partners across the Brazos Valley. Elder Aid is just one helping serve food to the front door of their seniors.
”They also have often limited income or fixed incomes right so as their expenses are rising more medications and more chronic conditions then they’re seeing fewer resources, or the same amount of resources before as their expenses rise,” Said Shannon Avila, Brazos Valley Food Bank programs manager.
According to feeding America, 5.5 million seniors are experiencing food insecurity.
”They rather save their money and go do those things to spend with family than to pay for food and that sounds bad but it’s really not because that’s what they live for. You know they live to be able to be with their families,” added Powers.
The food bank supports 300 seniors weekly across the Brazos Valley with non-perishable food.
”Food helps kind of supplement those needs so that seniors don’t have to choose between medication and food and will allow them to eat more meals in a day. Not just eat more meals in a day but food that are really targeted for seniors,” added Avila.
Elder aid says it’s most impactful around the holidays distributing food ensuring no one goes hungry this Thanksgiving.
“We’re able to help them have the food too so they’re not having to make a choice so much that they were having to do before so it does make a big difference," shared Powers.
Elder aid serves 35 elderly individuals with food to support their needs on a regular basis.