Helping to relieve food insecurities in Temple is the goal behind a new project by the Rotary Club of Temple.
The club is now accepting donations from the community for its Feed the Need project, which aims to provide boxes of food to residents in need. The organization hopes to raise at least $2,000 for purchasing food, allowing them to buy 160 boxes worth of food that they will pack themselves.
 

Club president Kelly Garcia, who took office at the start of the month, said the group is partnering with McLane Hunger Solutions for the food as well as the Temple Salvation Army unit for distribution.

“We are asking our members and fellow community members to donate so we can buy as much food as possible,” Garcia said. “We knew we wanted to do this before (the coronavirus) hit. And, once it hit it just put the pressure on us to get this going a little bit faster.”

Bell County currently has the second highest rate of food insecurity for families among 21 counties, according to the Central Texas Food Bank. About 20.9 percent of families are food insecure, second to Falls County with 21.1 percent.

While the Rotary Club plans to pack the food in October, Garcia said the money is needed by the first week of August to make sure the food arrives in time.

Due to high demand for cheaply priced food, such as those bought by food banks, orders from organizations like McLane Hunger Solutions can take up to two months. Garcia said this also means her group does not know yet what food will be in its boxes this October.

Depending on what food the club gets, Garcia said each of the $13 boxes of food will have enough in them to feed a family of either four or five for a couple days.

Salvation Army Lt. David Beckham said he was happy to get the change to work together with the Rotary Club.

“I am always excited to work with the Rotary Club, especially in the midst of COVID-19 with people losing their jobs,” Beckham said. “Any opportunity that we can provide families to alleviate the financial burden in the home is absolutely helpful. The distribution of food is always needed.”

Those residents interested in donating can do so through the Central Texas Tickets website for the club at https://bit.ly/3hsBFij.