Food pantries in need of more volunteers

The El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank is the only food distributor for over 120 pantries across El Paso, Hudspeth and Culberson counties.

These pantries rely on the help of its volunteers and they are in need of more.

“There is a hunger crisis here in El Paso that I think so many people are just not aware of,” said Susan Goodell, CEO of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank.

The food bank also works with 187 different mobile pantry sites across the county. Each mobile pantry site puts food on the back of a truck and those trucks go into neighborhoods that are underserved.

Every Saturday morning volunteers fill up the food bank to help process the donated food, but during the week it’s a completely different story.

“During the week, we struggle. We need volunteers every day of the week to make sure that this food is processed, boxed and available to go out in the community. Without our volunteers we can’t function as an organization,” Goodell said.

If you’re not able to volunteer at the food bank or pantries but still want to lend a helping hand, there are other ways to help.

“One is to organize food banks, food drives in the workplace, places of worship are incredibly helpful to us. For those who are not able to volunteer or have a food drive, every dollar we raise provides $7 of food for people in need,” Goodell said.

Click here for more information on how you can help donate or volunteer for the food bank or food pantries.