El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank’s Response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

• March 20, 2020
• EPFHFB

Like the rest of the world, the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank continues to closely monitoring the evolving Corona virus situation and following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), our national partner Feeding America and local entities including the El Paso County (https://www.elpasocountyhealth.org/).

The EPFH is a vital relief organization during times of crisis; internally, we have created a task force that meets regularly to ensure the health and wellness of our volunteers, staff and the community we serve as we work to provide the basic necessity of healthy food across our 3-county service area through our more than 130 partner agencies and our direct programs.

The need for food assistance continues to grow and we are on track to distribute 100 million pounds off food by the end of the year. The Food Bank is undertaking the following actions to help meet the need in West Texas:

• Creating at least 8,000 family meal boxes each week and making these available for our Partner Agencies- by shifting to a box model, we can create a no to low touch distribution model that is safer for our partners and the neighbors they serve. For more information about changing distribution schedules, or Mobile Distributions regularly check our Facebook page.
• Enabling our Partner Agencies to create their own food boxes by providing them with boxes and food items
• Collaborating with the City of El Paso and County of El Paso to prepare and deliver food boxes to seniors being distributed at local Senior Centers
• Exploring the possibility of additional food distributions with the City of El Paso as well as the surrounding regions
• Transitioning our Mobile Pantry program to a drive thru model to create a “low touch” experience

We will distribute emergency food boxes to those in need at the following drive-thru distribution sites:

East/Far East/Socorro/Clint/San Elizario/Fabens/Horizon:

- El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank - Monday through Friday from 7AM-5PM & Saturday from 8AM-5PM.

- Abundant Living Faith Center - East - 1000 Valley Crest - Saturday's from 8AM-11AM

- Holy Spirit Church - 14600 Horizon Blvd. Horizon City, TX - Monday - Friday from 8AM-12PM

West - Vinton and Anthony, TX: sites serving westside

- Village of Vinton - 436 Vinton Rd. Anthony, TX - Fridays from 8AM-11AM

- Anthony Municipal Park - 100 Richard White Ave. Anthony, TX - Thursdays from 8AM-11AM

- St. Mark UMC - 5005 Love Rd. El Paso, TX - Tuesdays from 10AM-12PM

Central:

- Kelly Center for Hunger Relief - 915 N. Florence on Tuesday through Friday from 10AM- 2PM & Saturday from 9AM-12PM.

- El Paso County Coliseum - 4100 E. Paisano Dr. - Tuesday through Saturday from 10AM-2PM.

Northeast:

- UPDATE: Katie's Pantry at 4801 Sun Valley - Saturdays ONLY from 9AM-2PM, starting September 26.

• Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in March, the food bank has faced a soaring demand and are serving more families and individuals struggling with hunger. So far, the EP Fighting Hunger has given out more than 800,000+ emergency food boxes at 5 major distribution sites and several mobile sites per week.