Houston Food Bank to serve more senior citizens; seeks additional distribution sites in Montgomery County

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- The Houston Food Bank is dedicated to filling pantries in Greater Houston and the 18 southeast Texas counties which it serves, from school children to families to senior citizens. The organization is currently working to provide more assistance to senior citizens through increased distribution via its Senior Box Program.

The Senior Box Program is designed to improve the health and nutrition of income-eligible seniors (age 60 and above). The program distributes Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) food from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that is managed by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). An example of what seniors will find in the food boxes (valued at $50 retail) is non-perishable vegetables and fruit, hot or cold cereal, pasta, two-pound block of cheese, protein (e.g., non-perishable chicken, salmon, tuna chili, stew) and more.

In addition to distributing a monthly box of shelf-stable CSFP food, the Senior Box Program has expanded its outreach to include distribution of produce and other health-related items to seniors both inside and outside of Harris County.

TDA has asked Houston Food Bank to distribute 2,000 more boxes per month, and the food bank is working to find additional sites for distribution sites.

“Houston Food Bank is looking for sites such as multi-service centers, senior living facilities, churches and similar locations from which to distribute senior boxes,” says Kathy Lipman, Senior Box Manager for Houston Food Bank. “Distributions generally are scheduled once every month during a one to two-hour window. Since our staff handles all aspects of processing interested seniors and distributing the food, it is easy for an organization to host this important service to support the well-being of seniors in their community.”

Sites are currently needed in the counties in which Houston Food Bank currently distributes – Harris, Montgomery, Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend and Liberty. Preferred locations are those in areas where many seniors reside, that are wheelchair accessible for clients, and have ample parking for the food bank’s truck as well as participants’ vehicles.

For the past year, the Houston Food Bank (HFB), Senior Box Program has been serving income-eligible seniors a Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) each month at 4 senior living communities in Montgomery County. "We are excited to announce that HFB is partnering with the Montgomery County Food Bank (MCFB) to offer fresh produce to everyone who qualifies, in addition to doubling the sites in the county where we will distribute non-perishable commodity food items each month."

Anyone with a location/space that would be available and appropriate to become a distribution site are asked to call Houston Food Bank’s Senior Box Program offices at 832-369-9390.