b'North Texas Food BankGrowing with theNeedBy Barbara GlassSize matters.Walking around the new North Texas Food Banksurplus food and grocery items through a network of charitable in Plano (ntfb.org) is an experience in wide open space.Severalorganizations across several counties.Erica notes that, ironically, volunteergroupsareworkingonprojectsinonehugespace,thesewomenthoughttheywereaddressingatemporary sorting and packing, adjoined to warehouses as big as city blocks.issue,onlytofindhungerhasnotonlypersisted,butgrown A walk through this airy, bright space is an education in theexponentially.enormity of the hunger problem in North Texas. TheNorthTexasFoodBankisamemberoftheFeeding My guide is Erica Yeager, Chief External Affairs Officer for theAmerica Food Bank Network, the largest domestic hunger relief North Texas Food Bank (NTFB).She explained that NTFB is aorganization.The national organization solicits donations and food bank that supplies food, organizational support, education,partnerships with national grocery companies and distributes to and advocacy to the food pantries across 13 North Texas counties,more than 200 food banks including NTFB, who supplements who in turn distribute directly to their communities. and distributes to local organizations.As the size of the hunger From this new buildingnow situated right in the middle ofproblem has mounted over the years, so has the need to expand the 13-county areaNTFB provides access to almost 77 millionandorganizetheprocesssothattheNTFBcanbesthelp nutritiousmealsthisyearthroughitsdistributionnetworkofcommunities thrive.200+ partner agencies. NTFBs ambitious goal of 92 million mealsEfficiency is found in every spacious inch of the building: from annually by 2025 is within reach. drop points to sorting, packing, storing, and outbound transit, The North Texas Food Bank was started in 1982 by founders Joeach step is carefully monitored.Area grocery retailers donate Curtis, Kathryn Hall, Lorraine Griffin Kircher, and Liz Minyard.food, both fresh and processed.Other sources of food donations Thefirstyear,thesewomendistributed400,000poundsofinclude farmers, USDA, manufacturers, and canned food drives. Data reveals that in Collin County alone, 20% of kids are food insecure and 18,000 of them are teenagers.Recently, the students of JPII High Schools Social Innovation Lab (SIL) interviewed teens within Dallas and Collin Counties who are affected by food insecurity to learn how best to address the problem. As a result of their findings, two prototypes have been developed which are in test-market phase now.54GoodLifeFamilyMag.comNOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2019'