San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
From easing hunger here to ending it
Hunger is not seasonal.
Many of us make donations to food pantries and participate in food drives only during the holiday season. But many families in our community face food insecurity day in and day out, 365 days a year. Those fortunate enough not to face this reality should make an effort to help others, if we can.
In this spirit, the San Antonio Express-News is making a $25,000 donation to the Food Bank this year. Every dollar to the Food Bank is equivalent to seven meals. No family in San Antonio should go hungry. This is why we support the Food Bank. It’s also why we have supported the city’s burgeoning workforce development program for adults and Pre-K 4 SA, a groundbreaking early childhood education initiative. These are efforts we believe will change lives and help reduce food insecurity in our community.
In 1968, San Antonio became the face of hunger in the United States in a CBS special report titled “Hunger in America.”
It brought the starvation in our community into living rooms across America. There was an interview with a middle school student who could not afford a 35cent school lunch, forgoing meals even as the city hosted the World’s Fair only miles away.
Time hasn’t changed much.
In April, 52 years after that CBS report, San Antonio again became the face of hunger in the U.S. through the iconic photo of vehicles stretched out for miles at a San Antonio Food Bank distribution line, which was shot with a drone by Express-News photojournalist William Luther.
“I think it really helped put clarity on something that was really difficult for people to understand,” Luther told “CBS Sunday Morning” when it recently visited San Antonio to explore the rise in Americans’ food insecurity.
On April 9, when Luther shot the photo, the country was only a few weeks into the pandemic. The schools many students depended on for much of their daily nourishment were closed. Shelter-inplace orders issued to minimize the spread of COVID-19 resulted in furloughs for many residents, especially those working in the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Overnight, demand for help from the San Antonio Food Bank doubled. It had been assisting 60,000 people a week pre-pandemic — an astonishing number, a sellout at the Alamodome, even in better times — but since the pandemic started it’s been more like 120,000 people a week.
The efforts of San Antonio Food Bank President and CEO Eric Cooper and the greater Food Bank staff to coordinate the collection and distribution of food have been phenomenal. They have harnessed the giving spirit of the San Antonio community.
Cooper has enlisted support from the business community and from individuals who have not only opened their wallets but shared food from their pantries and given generously of their time.
During a recent interview, Cooper told us he worries about donor fatigue and finds it humbling to see some people stepping up and donating multiple times.
During its annual #Food6SA campaign in November, the Food Bank collected 2,003,614 pounds of food, double its goal. Most recently during #Giving Tuesday, held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, $250,000 was donated. It was the most the Food Bank has ever collected during that event.
This helps people and families in distress, but the vision has to be bigger.
As Cooper told us, “Right now, we are just feeding the line, but ultimately we have to pivot to shortening the line.”
He is optimistic the city’s recently launched workforce development program will help in that effort by training people for careers in fields that pay decent wages and provide benefits. So are we. There is a difference between a job and a career.
Even in good years, the holiday season can be a challenging time for many. The days are short. The pressure to buy gifts is immense. But this year is an entirely different beast. The urgency of this moment is to ensure all families in San Antonio have enough to eat. The vision for the future is to shorten those food lines for good.
Letters may also be mailed to Letters, Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Length? The shorter the better – long enough to make your point. All letters are subject to editing for length and clarity.