By Kamryn Anthis | Staff Writer
A new Central Texas Food Bank facility in Waco is expected to expand access to food assistance for local families experiencing food insecurity.
Located at 1402 Gholson Road, the new facility will serve Waco residents struggling to afford groceries and connect the community with additional resources.
Jeremy Everett, executive director of the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, said the Food Bank’s opening will help address food insecurity in Waco.
“The Central Texas Food Bank opening up here in Waco will be a huge help to our ability to develop scalable solutions for Waco families who are food insecure, which are most of our working-class families right now because of the rising cost of goods at the grocery store and rising cost of fuel, but stagnant wages,” Everett said. “We’ve got a very high amount of food insecurity in our community, so they’ll be able to step in and really help alleviate suffering for families at the local level.”
The Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty played an important role in developing this project. Everett said this project also reflects Baylor’s Christian mission.
“For us to have a high-capacity organization come to Waco and be able to help put food on the table for people who need it, to me, I can’t imagine something helping us fulfill our sense of Christian mission and purpose more than that,” Everett said.
Food insecurity affects Waco residents of all ages. In McLennan County alone, the Baylor Collaborative reported that 47,440 total people, including 15,810 children, experienced food insecurity in 2023.
Everett said he has experienced food insecurity firsthand.
“I know the only time that I really experienced food insecurity firsthand was when I was a Baylor Truett Seminary student,” he said. “I remember frequently not knowing where my next meal was going to come from.”
The goal of this food bank, Everett said, is to create a welcome place where people feel comfortable seeking help and to reduce the stigma surrounding food insecurity.
“There is no harm in needing help,” Everett said. “We’ve all needed it before, and what I would do is, I would say, go get it. All these great organizations exist. They’ll be able to come alongside you to make sure that you have the resources you need to live and flourish as God intended.”
The facility will also give those who have not experienced food insecurity a chance to better understand the challenges facing members of the Waco community.
Waco sophomore Hutson Harper, who volunteered with the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, said the experience gave him a better understanding of the work being done to address food insecurity.
“I think perspective is a big thing, and I think people should have as many different perspectives as they possibly can get,” Harper said. “Working with a farm and helping out through that is a great way to gain another perspective on what goes on with farm labor.”
Everett echoed Harper’s emphasis on perspective, encouraging Baylor students to use opportunities like volunteering to better understand the Waco community.
“For Baylor students, this is also a great way to learn about what food insecurity and poverty look like. We oftentimes say you can’t solve a social problem from a distance. You have to have proximity to the problem.” Everett said.
Students are encouraged to volunteer their time and become involved in efforts to address food insecurity throughout Waco.
“This will give you an opportunity, as students, to be able to go volunteer, to get to know the community that you might not see all the time when you come to Baylor and maybe exist in the Baylor bubble,” Everett said. “This will give you an opportunity to give back to the community. It’ll give you an opportunity to see how you yourself can participate in a big social issue and help solve the problem.”
