How a food bank works is that a food bank is a non-profit organization that is primarily a logistics operation. Food and product come into Houston Food Bank from various sources and is inspected, sorted, and stored in our warehouse. Food and product is then distributed to our community partners. These partners include pantries, soup kitchens, schools, multi-service centers, and other community service providers. Our partners then give out the food directly to those who need it in their communities.
Houston Food Bank aims to help families achieve long-term stability by providing access to:
- Meals
- Help in securing state-funded assistance
- Nutrition Education
- Health and financial management programs
When it comes to food, Houston Food Bank focuses on filling gaps on the plate, rather than trying to distribute all food and nutrition needed for each meal (sometimes referred to as “whole plate”). Our goal is to provide ongoing supplemental food assistance with products that will have the greatest nutritional impact and reduce food purchasing costs for the recipient.
We aim to use the resources donated to us to distribute the highest nutritional and dollar value food (and non-food) we can for people receiving food assistance, in order to reduce the financial burden of needing to purchase all of these items for their families. This method of providing supplemental food is made even more impactful because most people who require food assistance do not simply need three full meals for today and tomorrow, but rather they will need help making ends meet for a longer period of time.