Abilene Hunger Coalition sees increased demand for free meal program

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) — The Abilene Hunger Coalition has seen an increase in the number of community members seeking assistance from its free meal program.

The Abilene Hunger Coalition is a movement that garners support from various organizations across Abilene, including the Highland Church of Christ, Kiwanis Club, the Junior League of Abilene, and more.

The organization, founded in 2018, had a simple mission of feeding Abilene’s children. During the summer months, schools can provide their food aid program to help feed low-income students. However, there is a two-week gap in the schools’ program just before the start of the school year when the Hunger Coalition originally provided its services. The Highland Church of Christ is one of the kitchens that prepares daily lunch meals, and Becky Almanza, the Restore Abilene Community Minister for the church, explained their mission.

“We prepare approximately 500 to 600 meals per day. When we started, 70% of AISD students were on the free and reduced lunch program. That’s a lot of students, and it has increased since 2018,” Almanza shared.

Over the years, the organization has expanded its services from three to seven locations across Abilene. Some of these locations include the WIC Office in downtown Abilene and Mann and Ortiz Middle Schools. Not only has the free lunch distribution locations increased, but they have also extended the days of the year on which they provide free lunches. Initially, they only provided food aid during the two-week gap in the summer, but they have now expanded their service to cover both spring and winter breaks. Due to this expansion, Almanza mentioned that they have extended free lunches to anyone in need, and the number of people they serve keeps growing, according to their records.

“We do try to keep a survey and keep a count of how many children we serve and how many adults that we serve just for our numbers. We can see a steady increase in the number of children that come in,” Almanza explained.

Julie Bewane, a nursing student at Hardin Simmons University, is spending her summer distributing free meals through the Americorps organization. She helps assemble these meals at the Highland Church kitchen and distributes them at the middle schools. She reflected on the needs she has observed within the community.

“Just wishing you could do more. That’s the saddest part, especially if they have kids in the car. You can’t tell them we ran out. Like, it’s sad telling them that we ran out. I can’t do anything about it but just point them in the next right direction,” Bewane said.

The Abilene Hunger Coalition will be providing free lunches for the remainder of this week until school starts, and they are always preparing for their next season of free lunch services. Becky Almanza of the Highland Church of Christ mentioned that they are continually seeking donations and new partners within the Abilene Hunger Coalition. She stated that they welcome everything from money and food to individuals willing to donate their time and volunteer. More information about the Abilene Hunger Coalition can be found online.

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