Central Texas Food Bank provides 500 households with food in response to increased need

AUSTIN, Texas - The Central Texas Food Bank held an emergency food distribution Monday evening in response to the elevated need because of the ice storm.

One East Austin Resident who came through the line said with a cut paycheck and spoiled food in the fridge, he needed the food to provide for his family for the rest of the week.

"The freeze wiped out all the food in the refrigerator," East Austin resident Robert Broussard said. "The freeze shut down my job site."

Broussard said he was without power for five days, it finally came back Sunday, and he’s trying to move forward. He is one of hundreds who lined up around the Delco Activity Center in East Austin to pick up food from the Central Texas Food Bank.

"We know that people were in need of assistance prior to the ice storm, so having lost food from power, maybe incurring additional expenses from downed trees, damage to the house, we want to make sure families have what they need," Central Texas Food Bank President & CEO Sari Vatske said.

About 20 volunteers took the pallets of food off the trucks, made lanes for the cars to come through, helped direct traffic, and placed food in the trunks of hundreds of cars.

Vatske said they were intentional in choosing the foods to distribute knowing some people are still without power, so the food doesn’t require electricity to make.

"We want to make sure that people have access to food in an environment without power," Vatske said.

"Thank you from all of us, because if not for this, we'd be scrambling for the next few weeks," Broussard said.

The Central Texas has at least 10 other distributions across Central Texas throughout the week. Click here for the list.