September marks the start of Hunger Action Month and while it is still August, the West Texas Food Bank was eager to get the awareness campaign started with its partnership with Whataburger to help kick things off.
On Monday, Whataburger presented a check for $5,000 to the West Texas Food Bank for their Food 2 Kids programs as part of Whataburger’s Feeding Student Success initiative to kick off Hunger Action Month and a local donation drive.
The presentation took place at the Whataburger on 42nd Street in Odessa.
“It’s always a fun occasion to kick off Hunger Action Month,” Communications Director of the West Texas Food Bank Craig Stoker said. “I know we’re a few days early, but with a promotion like this, who can wait? It’s a great time of the year to talk about hunger in the Permian Basin. This is something that is a year-round problem. It’s not something that happens at Christmas. It’s not something that only happens at back-to-school. It’s a year-round problem, so we like to take September to ask everyone to take action against hunger. Whether it’s talking to your neighbor or sharing a post on social media or even coming to Whataburger to donate a dollar. There are so many other ways you can do to support the West Texas Food Bank. September is an awesome time to remind people to take action against hunger.”
For the local donation drive, for every $1 a customer donates at their local Whataburger, the customer will receive a Thank You coupon for a free Whataburger with purchase of a medium fry and medium drink which will benefit the West Texas Food Bank.
Every dollar donated will stay in the Permian Basin to help the community and school-aged children.
“Today, we’re really excited to donate $5,000 to the West Texas Food Bank as part of our Feeding Student Success initiative,” Brand Development Coordinator for Whataburger Sarah Marston said. “This is where we’re giving money back just for school-aged kids. It could be for teachers’ resources or for school supplies. Children can’t learn well when they’re hungry. We’re teaming up with the West Texas Food Bank and this $5,000 will be for the Feeding Student Success initiative.”
Stoker said they were really excited to receive the donation and said that $5,000 goes a long way towards feeding students.
“Typically, every dollar that’s donated, we can provide around four meals,” Stoker said. “This is going to go back to the community with our Food 2 Kids programs which include backpacks for elementary kids and school pantries. We serve 19 counties at the West Texas Food Bank and this is one of the newer programs. This will go a long way towards supporting those pantries. $5,000 should support around 10 pantries for a semester. It goes a long way, even if it’s only a dollar.”
The drive will last for three weeks, through Sept. 20.
“If you miss the mark or want to give another way, go to our website,” Stoker said. “We’re always happy to take donations online. Or give us a call.”
Stoker said that Hunger Action Month is a great time to find different partnerships and find different ways to support the West Texas Food Bank.
“Every year, we have fun with our different corporate partners,” Stoker said. “We’re so excited this year to have Whataburger and being supportive of Hunger Action Month. …. It could not come from anywhere better in the community. We’ve done several food drives before and this time we’re actually taking it out to the community so we’re excited to have all our friends and family involved and a dollar can go a long way so we’re excited to do that.”
Whataburger has partnered with the West Texas Food Bank in the past. However, Marston says this is the first big partnership that they’ve done regarding the Feeding Student Success initiative.
“We’ve partnered with them before for Hunger Action Month, but this is a big one because not only are we donating $5,000 today, we’re asking our customers and our loyal community to donate at the register,” Marston said. “So as we head into Hunger Action Month, to donate a dollar to feeding student success, the money goes towards the local food bank here.”
Those who want to donate online to the West Texas Food Bank can do so over at https://wtxfoodbank.org/.
