Central Texas Food Bank

Addressing root causes of hunger

By Katrina McDowell on Apr 13, 2023 in Giving

The Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) is on a mission to nourish hungry people and lead the community in the fight against hunger. Founded in 1981 in Austin, Texas, the Yardi-supported food bank fights against hunger by soliciting, receiving, storing and distributing donated food to community service partner agencies that directly serve individuals in need.

CTFB is a critical part of Austin’s food safety net infrastructure, serving as the primary food source for 250 food pantries, mobile pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other human service agencies. Through economies of scale, CTFB can procure food and distribute it to social service agencies at a lesser cost than other agencies. The result is more food available for distribution to low-income clients by all agencies.

“CTFB is the primary food source for the agencies we serve, providing 75 percent of all food distributed throughout the network each year,” said Nigel Fuentes, corporate relations manager at CTFB.

Supply chain issues were a significant challenge in the 2022 reporting term for CTFB. There were many factors from high consumer demand, weather, and geopolitics – to packaging, labor, transportation, and ingredient supply shortages.

“In the short term, we’ve reorganized our food sourcing team, and they’re aggressively pursuing new food donor relationships,” shared Fuentes. “We’re stabilizing our shopping list with staple items and sourcing substantial quantities of fresh produce, which is more available in today’s national food supply and meets our goals to provide healthy food options.”

In addition, CTFB is doing more to address the root causes of hunger and focusing on benefits assistance, workforce solutions, and health outcomes. These changes will help insulate the food bank from market fluctuations they experienced last year.

Funding from Yardi is used to support food acquisition and distribution. “Funding will help our mission to nourish hungry people by supporting CTFB’s food assistance programs and enabling us to meet the ongoing demand for our services in 2023,” shared Fuentes.

Volunteer Opportunities

#TeamYardi in the Austin office will volunteer once a quarter for half a day each visit.

“The Central Texas Food Bank is proud to partner with Yardi to help fight hunger issues in our community, and we look forward to partnering for years to come,” enthused Fuentes.

Volunteers are the heart and soul of CTFB. Weekday and weekend volunteer opportunities are available, perfect for individuals and groups. Help prepare food donations for distribution and distribute food at mobile food pantries. Find out more information about volunteering here.

Find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving.