North Texas Food Bank Faces Rising Demand, Budget Cuts

The demand for food assistance is rising, and the North Texas Food Bank is in jeopardy of being able to meet the needs of the 12 counties it serves because of funding cuts, the nonprofit’s president and CEO Trisha Cunningham told the Rotary Club of Park Cities at a June 6 meeting.

The North Texas Food Bank has already lost about $11 million in funds that it had previously been able to use to buy food, she said. And a bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22 would cut almost $300 billion in food assistance for low-income households and only increase demand for the food bank’s services.

“There’s going to be more need for the North Texas Food Bank to serve, not less,” she said, “and at a time now that we also have less funding to be able to meet those needs.”

Cunningham urged rotarians to contact their senators and let them know that they should oppose harmful cuts. The bill, she explained, will soon be considered by the Senate and only passed the House by a single vote.

“This is urgent … Our elected officials want us to meet the needs of those in the community, but we have to have the resources to do that,” she said.

Dallas County has the fifth highest number of people who are food insecure out of more than 3,200 counties across the country, Cunningham said. 

She said that the North Texas Food Bank is grateful for the support of the Rotary Club of Park Cities, which has raised funds through the annual Fourth of July Parade to provide more than 2.1 million meals.

Thanks to a match from the David M. Crowley Foundation, all June gifts to the North Texas Food Bank will triple in impact. Every $1 donation will provide nine nourishing meals. Visit ntfb.org to support the Food Bank.