William Hubenschmidt
Development Research VISTA

I am the opposite of lactose intolerant. Since childhood, no food or drink has given me the feeling of nourishment quite like a cold glass of milk. Milk is such an irreplaceable part of my diet that dinner does not feel complete without it. However, a recent experience changed that.

I’m an AmeriCorps VISTA service member and have the privilege of working at the Food Bank as a Fund Development Researcher. I entered AmeriCorps with the goal of serving those in poverty, but also with the awareness that I would personally experience poverty. AmeriCorps pays a biweekly living stipend of $429, low enough to qualify for SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits. Even with food assistance, I am barely able to make ends meet. Recently, I had a glimpse of what life would be like without food stamps.

Photo courtesy of Essenmacher on Flickr

Recently, my monthly SNAP benefits were exhausted ten days early. Unsure of what to do and with little money in my bank account, I decided to approach hunger on a meal-to-meal basis. In the subsequent days, I experienced something between food insecurity and outright hunger. In borrowing tactics from someone who had experienced hunger, I simply chose to eat very little, rather than let hunger control me. This strangely empowering decision worked well for a few days, but the constant thought of food—any food—began to override.

On a Saturday toward the end of this experience, my only meal was a bowl of cereal. As the night approached and my stomach groaned, I couldn’t take it anymore. Impulsively, I decided to splurge on a Jimmy Johns sandwich rather than muster the energy and mental strength to enter a grocery store full of food that I could not afford.

When I entered Jimmy Johns, the smell of bread took on an entirely new dimension, as my nose barely had time to process what my stomach knew instantly. As I ordered, the cashier asked me if I wanted a drink. Normally, I avoid drinking soda, but this time I ordered a large. Before my sandwich was ready, I filled and gulped almost the entire Coke. My habit of avoiding refined sugars went completely out the window as I eventually drank two large Cokes with my turkey sandwich. Although I knew it was unhealthy, the pure calories in the soda felt as nourishing as a glass of milk! At that moment, I was starving—health, nutrition, and bank account empty. As I got up to leave the restaurant, I bought a bag of greasy potato chips and refilled my soda.

This experience taught me that hunger has a powerful effect on psychology and the very perception of food. Only a couple of hours passed before I was hungry again. Soda was a poor choice, but when you’re hungry, any calories will suffice. Even the simplest, most processed sugars. I was no longer in control of my diet.

So, why didn’t I try to get help at the Food Bank? I was naïve about hunger and I thought I could deal with it. Well, I can’t deal with it, and no one should have to. If it happens again, I know the Food Bank is here to help. Hopefully I can get a glass of milk, too.

Alese Colehour
Communications VISTA

I have the amazing job of collecting hunger stories from our clients, donors, volunteers and staff, and today I’m excited to introduce our newest initiative: podcasting! Podcasts are downloadable audio files you can listen to and stream online.

Our podcasts feature weekly stories from hungry Central Texans. I ask questions like “How has hunger affected your life?” and “Why is the Food Bank important to you?”

Subscribe in iTunes and start listening today! Tell us about your own experience with hunger, and help us spread the message that Hunger Is UNacceptable.

Louis Blase, Catholic Charites, CAFB Partner Agency

Today’s Feature Story: Louis has a passion for cooking Cajun food. He is a Hurricane Katrina evacuee hailing from the heart of New Orleans. (Listen here.)

Subscribe to Capital Area Food Bank Hunger Stories by Email

David Davenport
President and CEO

When we think of the holidays, children often come to mind. We can all probably recall memories of children with gifts to unwrap or a delicious holiday meal to eat.

You might be surprised to know that many Food Bank clients are children. Texas has the highest rate of food-insecure children in the nation. 

In fact, one-in-three of the more than 300,000 people nourished each year by the Capital Area Food Bank is a child.

To help the thousands of children who benefit from Food Bank services each year, consider supporting CAFB this holiday season through these three simple ways:

• Order special CAFB holiday cards
• Give through our virtual gift catalog
• Make a one-time donation

We need your help to make sure all children receive the nourishment they need to learn and grow. Thank you for turning hungry holidays into happy holidays!

Food Bank staff are serious about ending hunger. And when it comes to celebrating Halloween, well, we’re serious about that, too. From Poison Ivy (pictured here) to Roller Girl, CAFB staff dressed for the occasion, making this a fun Friday.

If you’re headed out this weekend, enjoy the festivities, and have a Happy Halloween!

Oktoberfest brought together some of the city’s best beer, bands and tasty food this past weekend. Austin’s favorites Guy Forsyth, Dustin Welch, Nakia and his Southern Cousins, and others entertained the festival goers.

And get this, thanks to all the volunteers and attendees, the Food Bank raised more than $3,700 and 2,400 pounds of food for hungry Central Texans!

Thank you, Austin!

Click here to see more photos from this event.

Did you go to Oktoberfest? What was your favorite part? Share your story in the comments section below.

Patricia Luna lives with her husband, three children and grandson. Her Food Stamps were reduced from $455 to $195 per month when her 20-year-old son enrolled in Phoenix University online college.  “He’s constantly hungry,” she said about her son. “Grown kids eat more than little ones. Two-hundred dollars a month doesn’t get you too far.”

She says she also worries about her diabetic husband.  “There are some days he just doesn’t eat,” she explained. “He’s working or doesn’t have time to come home, and now we can’t even afford his medication because we have to use that money to buy groceries. He needs to eat.”

Patricia previously worked as a hotel lobby attendant and now stays at home to take care for her grandson. “My husband told me, ‘You need to be here for this baby,’” she said. She also helps her daughter get to-and-from Del Valle every day where she attends high school and plays volleyball.

“I only need a little help. That’s why I started coming to the [St. Ignatius] food pantry,” she explained.

Patricia brings her whole family to church three times-a-week. “That’s the only thing that’s helped us stay strong— faith in God,” she proclaimed. “God is helping in every way he can.”

Can you relate? Share your story with us in the comments section below.

Molly Robbins
Community Events Coordinator

Fasting to lose weight, fasting to detox, fasting to find spiritual happiness. These are all human quests that can be met by avoiding food. Yesterday, I fasted for an entirely different reason. I fasted with the Muslim Students Association at The University of Texas at Austin to ‘go hungry for a day so someone else doesn’t have to.’

Every year, the Muslim Students Association at UT sponsors a charity event called Fast-A-Thon. Students, faculty, and people outside of the UT community volunteer to fast (abstain from food and drink for one day) and are brought together in the evening to break their fast and enjoy a free dinner. For each person that fasts, up to $1 is donated to the Food Bank. 

This was my experience with hunger: I woke up hungry, drove to work, turned on my computer, and began my daily routine… hungry. I continued working through lunch and could smell the food in the workroom and down the hall—the smell of food was everywhere. I went to UT to make a presentation and all I could focus on was my hunger pains.  As someone who normally struggles to get from one meal to the next without snacking, this wasn’t easy. Throughout my day, hunger never left me. I knew at any time I could eat, that I was ultimately in control and could choose to eat and end my discomfort. So many Central Texans are left ‘fasting’ without the option to break it.

This I believe: Hunger is unacceptable. There are people (our neighbors!) who unwillingly experience hunger everyday. I’m hopeful that our community also believes that hunger is unacceptable, and with everyone’s help and support, we can end hunger.

Sherry LeBlanc
Programs Director

I’m pleased to announce that we brought our Wheels of Sharing Mobile Food Pantry to Gause, TX last week.

Gause is 90 miles northeast of Austin, in Milam County, population 400. As Fred (the Mobile Pantry driver), Lauren (Social Work intern who provides food stamp assistance) and I left the Food Bank, I shared with them that I didn’t know how many families would come to this distribution in such a small town and on a rainy day. I also said that I was afraid we wouldn’t have any volunteers with the weather conditions. The people of Gause proved me wrong. We had a fantastic, successful first distribution!

In less than an hour, we provided food for 114 families, with help from 20 volunteers. We’re expecting this site to grow to serve more than 200 families each month.

While talking to clients, I learned that families were coming from all over Milam County, including Hearne and Milano. It was pouring rain throughout the distribution, so unfortunately, I was not able to take photos. Here are some photographs of the town, though, to give you an image of the diverse places that exist throughout our service area.

This is Main St., which we drove through on our way to the Community Center where the distribution was held.

The distribution occurred directly behind this cemetery at the Gause Community Center.

With each new Mobile Food Pantry distribution, we serve more and more of our hungry neighbors who do not have easy access to a food pantry. I invite you to share in this amazing experience. To volunteer at a Mobile Food Pantry distribution, click here. I hope to see you soon!

Thanks to Tom Ramsey’s generous donation of a 6,000 square foot building, the Capital Area Food Bank is able to provide more food and client services for families through the Reaching Out Center in Pflugerville and North Austin.

Tom, owner of Snappy Snack Mobile Catering, and his wife, Monica, were already operating a food pantry from his warehouse. Tom says he has a personal connection to those who need help and says he wants people to feel welcome. When client need started to increase, he decided to devote a large portion of the building to serving clients, and offered CAFB the opportunity to assume operations of the food pantry.  

Watch the video to hear what these first-time clients had to say about their experience with hunger.

CAFB is working to turn the Reaching Out Center into a model pantry that all Partner Agencies can learn from, including the addition of the CAFB Self-Sufficiency Program, scheduled to begin in the next few months.

To volunteer at the Reaching Out Center, click here.

 
More than one in three people we serve is a child, and in our new campaign, we declare that “Hunger is Unacceptable.” The campaign, breaking this week on TV, online and in newspapers, shows the real face of hunger in Central Texas and what you can do to help.

We’re directing everyone to www.hungerisUNacceptable.com to view short films about actual Central Texans experiencing hunger.

“These are real people who don’t always know where their next meal will come from. They’re our friends, neighbors, family members, and too often they’re children,” said President & CEO, David Davenport. “Hunger is unacceptable. Especially child hunger. The Food Bank is uniquely positioned to drastically reduce hunger. When our community supports the Food Bank, they are helping nourish their hungry Central Texas neighbors.”

Click here to help us spread the word. Share your vision through Twitter, Facebook, your blog and your website.

Hunger Is UNacceptable. Will you join us?

This campaign was produced with the generous support of a local marketing firm and area media outlets.