The West Texas Food Bank has announced the long-awaited Produce Pod, presented by Chevron.
The Produce Pod project was put on hold thanks to the pandemic, but is ready to roll out to underserved rural areas in the 19 county service area of the West Texas Food Bank.
The launch is set for 10 a.m. today at the Martin County Food Pantry, 203 N. St Francis St. in Stanton.
The West Texas Food Bank collaboration with Chevron also includes the Community Kitchen, which pre-COVID was serving around 1,500 children through our Kids Café and Summer Feeding Programs. At the beginning of the pandemic, the feeding programs could not operate due to safety concerns, but the kitchen did not cease operations. Also, due to the shut down there weren’t many safe options for WTFB staff and volunteers to use for lunch.
“The Chevron Community Kitchen kept our staff and volunteers fed. For 10 weeks the cooks made sure everyone had hot and delicious meals,” Libby Campbell, executive director of the West Texas Food Bank, said in a news release. “The cooks not only fed our staff, but we fed the Texas State Troopers who came to help with our pantry, and when the National Guard arrived, we made sure they had plenty to eat. Over that 10 week period the Chevron Community Kitchen served over 50 people a day a total of around 2,500 meals. We are excited to now add the ability to make large produce drops in our rural counties, thanks to the Produce Pod.”
“Food security is essential for a community to thrive,” says Brent Gros, general manager of operations, Chevron. “We all became acutely aware of this during the COVID-19 pandemic when the West Texas Food Bank was tasked with nourishing a community hit with both health and economic challenges – and by all accounts, they did a remarkable job. We are very pleased to know that the Chevron Community Kitchen has been able to feed staff, volunteers and State Troopers throughout the pandemic and that the Chevron Produce Pod has helped feed our neighbors in rural locations.”
