Dear Community Food Bank,

During my time of adversity you displayed the heart of pure goodness and effective leadership.

You give real food, during the holidays. You give with all the sides to make a real Thanksgiving or Holiday Feast.

I felt the genuine generosity! There was so much cheer, that day, winter 2013!

You did not make me feel like little, dirty, or “less than,” for coming to ask for help, during my time of adversity.

You treated us all the same: whether, we were prostitutes, pot heads, or just in need of a little extra help – your lover sells the food stamps, cause they refuse to work, only stay. High, prostitute, and the prostitute the mothers of women, with lust, and possible physical, verbal, or emotional abuse.

But thank God. You all don’t ask all that.

You all don’t say, “So, how did you get here? Why should I give to you?”

No, you are very kind, you are professional. The Restroom is nice, clean, fresh, and very respectable.

Yes, I would come again if I needed to.

Moreover, this time I do get to home again. A giver this time!

THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING me to feel human, and NOT degraded, for the choices I had made, that led me to that place of asking/humiliation (for me).

Thank you (now with huge crocodile tears, as I wrote this letter).

Live,Grow, be blessed and may your heart feeling the love; as much hard work it is required, to have such a nice, clean, clear, courteous place to serve. THANK YOU FORT WORTH, TEXAS COMMUNITY FOOOD BANK. The people on the bus, just called you all, “Galvez. Go over there. They will help you.” You are really trying to recover the hurting.

Thank you,

Truly A. Livingston

Thanks to both the Texas Rangers and our regular team from Amazon for serving our clients on both of the food lines we had running today at the Community Food Bank. In addition to our regular food pantry line, we also had a line of USDA food products delivered by the Tarrant Area Food Bank, which happens on the 4th Wednesday of each month.

Bethany Holuv, the Assistant for the Foundation Department for the Rangers, helped pass out bags of brown long-grain rice to our clients. She shared the following about their organizations service to the North Texas community: “We partner with Whataburger. Our foundation and corporate partnerships group comes out here. We try to do it twice a year. We are here just trying to get back to the community.” Bethany has been with the Rangers for three seasons. A more recent member of the team is Stephanie Gaytan, a Client Services Coordinator under Corporate Sales, who has been with the Rangers organization for 6 months. She was sorting through bags of premium black seedless grapes to make sure our clients got only the best ones. “We are helping out the community over here in Tarrant County, just volunteering with the food bank,” she shared.

Inside our facility where the regular food pantry line distributes food to an average of 600+ families per weekday, Amazon workers filled food boxes with a generous helping of food products including plenty of vegetables and three packages of meat. Debbie Czako, who has been with Amazon for 3 years, was one of this month’s group of volunteers. She worked on stuffing the food boxes while other Amazon volunteers worked to make the food distribution go slowly on the outside of the food pantry door. We thank each of these wonderful volunteers from both organization for making a difference in feeding families and feeding hope here in North Texas.

Thank you to the faculty and staff of the All Saints’ Episcopal School for spending a hot afternoon sorting through school supplies at the Community Food Bank. James Venhaus, chairman of the Fine Arts Department, shared about the school’s day of service: “We came up with the idea a few years ago that in addition to school in-service we should do out-service and get out into the community and do some good during the time when we are coming together as faculty at the start of the school year. I think it’s a fantastic way to help the community and help those in need but also help us keep perspective into what our community’s needs are and how best we can serve. There is always a need in our community for additional service and additional help. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day issues of getting your classroom ready or getting your curriculum ready, and realize that those frustrations aren’t nearly as important as what our community needs are and how we can be helpful.” Thank you to each of your for your service, and best wishes on a wonderful school year!

Thank you to Pacific Dental Services (PDS) for bringing 15 volunteers to the Community Food Bank on Saturday, August 17.  Their service was part of the company’s Smile Generation Service Day.

Tammy Spicer is the Cash & Treasury Manager for PDS, where she has been employed for 13 years. She shared, “We have a serve day every year in which dental offices give back and do pro bono dentistry work. None of us here [at the food bank] are certified to do dentistry…of any sort [big laugh]. Most of us work in our support office for accounting, so we had a few opportunities to volunteer, and one of them was here.”

Jeanie Spencer, a hosting supervisor at PDS. “We do this because we have a culture of service. For the entire 11 years that I have been here, we have done something. Every year, we also donate dentistry. While all the offices are out doing dentistry and giving free services to a lot of different charitable organizations–one place is a foster care transitional home–those of us who don’t have clinical hands come to places like the food bank so that we can give back to the community. And honesty, we do it year-round as well. We just have day when we come together as an organization, which is 750 offices and 3 support centers.”

We thank Pacific Dental Services for giving back to the North Texas community!

The Community Food Bank hosted its annual School Supplies Giveaway on Saturday, August 10. Rev. Karen Harris, the Community Food Bank’s Executive Coordinator shared the following about the event: “Today, the Community Food Bank is passing out school supplies to parents who preregistered prior to today. We are glad to say that this year we are using supplies from the Fort Worth ISD list of school supplies and are able to help parents of children who would not have otherwise been able to have school supplies for the year.” Students from pre-K to 5th grade got tissues, hand sanitizer, composition books, pens, and pencils. “Some of the backpacks were truly beautiful and sturdy. Most children today pack everything they have in a backpack, so these backpacks are sturdy and should be able to last them throughout the year.”

Rudy Taylor, the food bank’s Operations Director, shared: “I don’t think any child wants to go the first day of school without the proper supplies…without a new pair of shoes, dress socks, and clothing. The teachers are doing their part and spending their money. The parents are doing their part. But every once in a while, people need a little help. Children deserve the best.”

A team of volunteers from Medical City Healthcare provided the labor for the School Supplies giveaway. Eileen Kirrane, Administrative Director of Clinical Education at Medical City, shared, “Our mission with Medical City Healthcare is above all else we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. As part of that mission, we want to volunteer and give back to the communities we serve as much as we can. We are really glad we are here with the kids going back to school.” And, we are grateful to their service!

Rev. Harris summed up the event by stating, “Every year, we get better and better at everything we do. We are grateful for all the donations and to be able to help God’s people.”