Since mid-March, COVID-19 has devastated the personal and economic well-being of thousands of families in Tarrant County. The pandemic left them without any means for basic necessities including food and many did not know where their next meal would come from. One family of six shared that they only had one can of pie filling left after they exhausted what little food they had in their household when the pandemic resulted in job loss for the main provider of the family.
To address the growing food insecurity crisis in our community as a result of the pandemic, United Way of Tarrant County launched its Feed Tarrant initiative working with community partners including Z’s Café, Fort Worth Independent School District, Generation Uplift and Tarrant Area Food Bank to provide take-home meals for families who may not otherwise have access to nutritious food.
“It is unimaginable that so many of our friends and neighbors are going without meals every day,” said Leah King, president and CEO of United Way of Tarrant County. “With the generous donations from our community partners, we are able to ensure families who are in need are receiving nutritious meals.”
Since the program began June 15, United Way of Tarrant County has served more than 131,833 meals to over 4,200 families at 10 distribution locations throughout Tarrant County.
An individual, whose family received meals at one of the apartment complexes served through the program, was so thankful for the assistance, she decided to volunteer, alongside the United Way team, to pass out meals to other families. “I really appreciate all of this,” she said. “It has done so much for our family.”
The Feed Tarrant initiative included more than 800 volunteers who logged more than 2,000 hours for meal prep and delivery.
The 10 meal distribution locations included:
- First Baptist Church, Everman
- Colinas Del Bosque Mobile Home Park, Everman
- Texans Can Academy (delivered to student homes in Fort Worth)
- First Baptist Church Lake Worth
- Village Creek Apartment Complex, Fort Worth
- Summit Oaks Mobile Home Park, Fort Worth
- Magnolia at Village Creek, Fort Worth
- Diamond Hill, Fort Worth
- Northhill Manor, Fort Worth
- Villas De Sonoma, Fort Worth
