EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Pasoans Fighting Hunger (EPFH) Food Bank says federal funding continues to be unstable, impacting its partnership with local pantries.
On Monday, March 17, the food bank announced that it will adjust their food distribution operations to a four-day schedule which will be Tuesday through Friday. In addition, their partner pantry will no longer receive donations from the food bank.
Reach and Relieve Outreach Center in East El Paso serves 75 to 100 families each month, they also have their mobile food pantry that allows them to help in other areas across the city.
They said right now, they are looking to reassess what they are going to do moving forward.
“It’s definitely been a blow because like I said, we’ve been reliant. We’ve been partnering with them (EPFH) for 13 years and getting food from them for a long time. And without it, it’s just a lot of uncertainty. Like, we’re not even sure if we can continue the next month or the month after that,” Josh Sattelmeier, from Reach and Relieve said.
Bethel F.O.R.C.E Church in the Northeast has had their food pantry in the area for over 20 years, serving about 60 families monthly. The pantry also relies on EPFH for help.
“By El Paso Fighting Hunger having to cut back and cut us off, it’s going to be a tremendous impact on what we do. So, I know that without them, we’re going to have to try to find a way to come up with more funds, because there’s no way that we can carry on, you know, to this capacity,” Jessie Bruce with Bethel F.O.R.C.E Church said.
Both of these food pantries also rely on food donations from the community.
To donate to Reach and Relive Outreach visit https://www.reachandrelieve.com/page/.
To help Bethel F.O.R.C.E Church, visit https://www.bethelforce.com/contact
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