Food bank SNAP outreach helps feed Eagle Pass hungry
By: SALO OTERO
South Texas Food Bank director of development Special to Maverick County with a poverty rate of more than 30 percent, the hungry in Laredo and South Texas are plentiful. And can you imagine millions of government dollars earmarked to feed the hungry going unused because qualifying candidates do not apply for assistance?
Yes that happens. But, enter the South Texas Food Bank and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Outreach Program. SNAP was formerly the Food Stamps Program.
The STFB has a crucial role in the ultra-important state-wide initiative that kicked off in 2006 partnering with the Texas Food Bank Network and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The goal is to get more needy South Texans to apply for food stamps (SNAP). SNAP is an entitlement program and the Center for Public Policy Priorities reported in 2009 and 2010 millions of dollars in benefits for hungry Texans were left unclaimed. In Maverick County the estimated amount runs in the millions of dollars.
People seeking assistance are often discouraged by delays because of long application lines, a tedious eligibility process and overloaded caseworkers. The South Texas Food Bank addresses the critical problem by providing individual application and process assistance for applicants, who are sometimes elderly or otherwise have problems filling out the application.
Maverick County residents can fill out SNAP applications at the Seco Mines Community Center in Eagle Pass. For information call Leti Garcia at (830) 325-1459. Romelia Cardona of Eagle Pass is on the South Texas Food Bank board. Eagle Pass native Olga Fernandez Maldonado, an executive with AEP Texas in Laredo, is also on the board and served as president two years ago.
South Texas Food Bank executive director Alfonso Casso emphasizes that the SNAP Outreach Program plays a key role in the food bank mission.
He notes, “Feeding the needy is our main mission but in almost 100 percent of these cases, the need is not just for food. Our Outreach Program looks for other state and federal programs and services available such as SNAP and Temporary Assistance to Families in Need (TANF) that our clients may not be aware. We direct them to these services.
United Way of which we are a member, supports many other local agencies who also help provide services and we refer many of our clients to these agencies and vice versa. Together we all can help those in need in our community.”
Alma Blanco is the South Texas Food Bank SNAP Outreach Program coordinator. For information call Blanco in Laredo at (956) 726-3120 or 726-0888. Juan Solis of the STFB staff is the Chief Programs Officer. He is in charge of SNAP, Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and Adopt A Family. The food bank is located at 1907 Freight at Riverside, Laredo, Tex., 78041. The website is www.southtexasfoodbank.org
Blanco’s staff informs families about SNAP benefits and helps with the application, which is then delivered to the state office for processing.
“We get 70 to 80 percent of the applicants to qualify,” Blanco said. Executive director Casso’s report at the monthly South Texas Food Bank board meetings reveal an average of 400 applicants per month.
In August, the South Texas Food Bank, which serves eight counties from Del Rio to Rio Grande City, signed up for SNAP 350 families, representing 475 adults and 505 children, bringing the year’s total to 3,149 applications epresenting 4,230 adults and 4,309 children.
“The SNAP outreach is a win, win situation for everyone,” said Mike Garza of the South Texas Food Bank board. Garza, also a Laredo City Councilman and United ISD administrator, said, “The outreach feeds the hungry and is a big boost to the economy.”
A single mother of three who had not previously applied for SNAP said, “Thanks to the food bank I now qualify for $300 worth of food stamps. My cupboard is full and the money I was using to buy food, I can now buy clothes for my children.”
