The Central Texas Food Bank distributed food to an estimated 1,200 families Saturday morning at Temple College.
Cars were starting to fill the south parking lot by about 8 a.m. for the monthly drive-through distribution, scheduled for 9-11 a.m. About a dozen food bank employees and 35 volunteers funneled traffic into two lines and placed boxes of food into car trunks or pickup beds.
“It went very fast,” said volunteer Madison Moore of Temple, whose job was putting boxes in cars. “I volunteer regularly. I’ve been all the way from Mexia to Austin.”
An online student at the University of Houston, she’s a nutrition major and plans to be a registered dietician.
“This is what I want to spend my career doing,” she said. “We just love helping the community.”
At about 9 a.m., Ray and Ranell Gendron of Temple were among the many people lined up in their vehicles.
“I’m 100 percent disabled,” he said. “My wife is retired after 37 years at Temple ISD.”
The food dispensation amounted to “a little extra stuff to help us make it through the month,” he said. “This is the second time we’ve been here.”
He credited the event with being well-organized.
“It’s nice to be able to sit here a little bit, and the next thing you know you’re rolling through and you’re out of here.”
Billy Hill of Temple, a disabled veteran, said he was picking up food for his family. He said he arrived at 8:50 a.m. and had moved pretty far by 9:15 a.m.
Linda Vasquez of Temple said she was picking up food for her mother. This was her first time at the distribution.
“My granddaughter told me,” she said. “She’s in Temple College here, studying business. I’m truly blessed that they’re doing this. People really need it. It’s a God thing.”
Kelly Schmidt of Temple said she was picking up food for her family and for a family that has the coronavirus.
“I didn’t see it advertised anywhere,” she said. “My friend found out about it and told me. It’s very important. It serves a need in the community when people are struggling financially. This family that I’m picking up for, all three of them are unemployed, so this is vital to their survival. So we’re all very thankful for the volunteers and the donations.”
Due to the coronavirus crisis, there has been a 220 percent increase in Central Texas families seeking food assistance for the first time, according to the food bank’s website. The food bank has distributed more than 22 million pounds of food since March, the agency said.
