Editorial: Hungry Texans need your help this season

On a regular day last year, in our corner of the land of plenty, more than a million Texans didn’t have enough to eat. They are the parents who skip meals so their children can have seconds, the seniors who must choose between dinner and keeping the lights on and the worker who fills her gas tank at the cost of an empty stomach.

The pandemic has only made things worse. With so many newly out of a job, the need, in this season of giving, has never been greater. Those of us fortunate enough to count our blessings in a time of crisis must step up and share.

We can start at the Houston Food Bank, which serves 18 southeast Texas counties, partners with hundreds of local groups to provide services and has more than doubled its distribution this year. Between March and September, the nonprofit distributed more than 180 million pounds of food and served an average of 126,503 households a week.

The early pandemic scenes of miles-long lines of people waiting for food have mostly disappeared, but this is because groups have found better ways to handle distribution, officials said. The demand has not gone away.

While more people found jobs in October, first-time applications for unemployment climbed by nearly 20,000 last week. Texas unemployment stood at 6.9 percent, better than only 15 states. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 2.5 million households in Texas reported not having enough food in November.

A vaccine that will help the economy get back on track is coming soon, but so is the end of government measures that have so far eased the strain on food bank pantries. The Farmers to Families Food Box program, created by the Trump administration in May, is running out of money and struggling to meet its goal to help feed the hungry through the holidays.

Meanwhile, the Food Purchase and Distribution Program, meant to relieve the pressure on farmers impacted by the president’s trade wars and which provided about $100 million in food to Texas this year, is also ending in December. At the state level, pandemic-related funding cuts at the Texas Department of Agriculture have meant a reduction in a program that delivers surplus produce from farmers to food banks.

The shortfall left by these programs will be felt long before an economic recovery brings food insecurity back to a manageable level — especially as Congress continues to dither on approving a pandemic stimulus that would safeguard emergency relief benefits, including extended unemployment insurance.

You can help the Houston Food Bank by donating money, food or your time. Of these, volunteering is what may have the most impact. Although officials said they take all necessary safety precautions, the group has struggled with a shortage of staff since the beginning of the pandemic. In previous years, the organization would see around 8,000 volunteers each month, according to the Chronicle. In October, there were a total of 2,200.

To make up for the loss in volunteers, the food bank has hired laid-off hospitality workers, but funds for that program also run out this month.

“Hunger can live next door in the best of times,” food bank spokeswoman Paula Murphy said. “In the pandemic, it can truly be anyone.”

As we wait for a Christmas miracle and hope the government acts — which it must, as quickly as possible — it is up to all of us who can to help however we can to make the holidays and beyond brighter for hungry Texans.