KERR COUNTY, Texas – The Texas Hill Country has received an outpouring of donations since the catastrophic floods on the Fourth of July. When it comes to food donations, not all of it can be consumed before it goes bad.
“There is some waste that gets created because of so much being provided to us all at once,” said Sergio Marquez-Lopez, business director for the Salvation Army in Kerrville.
The Salvation Army is one of the nonprofits managing donations in the aftermath of the floods.
Food that won’t be eaten before it expires is on its way to the San Antonio Food Bank.
“Then we can sort, box, package, get the right doses in the right places at the right time,” San Antonio Food Bank president and CEO Eric Cooper said. “That type of efficiency has a greater impact than, ‘Hey, come sort through whatever’s here and if anything’s useful, take it.’”
Marquez-Lopez said it creates “credit” for later.
“So that, later on — if we need those resources — they can supply us with those things,” Marquez-Lopez said.
What can’t be used in a timely manner can be used elsewhere, in places such as senior centers or after-school programs. The food bank gets the items to those locations.
“The trailers on-site are getting filled,” Cooper said. “Once they’re filled, we swap it out with an empty trailer. And we’re doing that throughout the Hill Country.”
Trucks run back and forth daily between San Antonio and the Hill Country and will continue to do so as long as needed.
“We got to the point that we were actually sending shipments directly to the food bank,” Marquez-Lopez said.
While donations have continued to come in, storage in the Kerrville area has been limited.
“It needs to go, but it needs to go at the right pace and the right amount so that you’re strategic and efficient and effective,” Cooper said.
The abundance of donations on the ground in the Hill Country is a big reason why many nonprofits said what’s needed now are monetary donations to help get flood victims what they need when they need it, as that need evolves.
For information on how to get assistance from the San Antonio Food Bank, call 210-431-8326.
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