One step closer to ending hunger

By Marissa McMinn


Hays County Food Bank brought the CROP Hunger Walk to San Marcos March 25 with the hopes to raise awareness and funds.


The main goal behind organizing and supporting the walk is to end hunger locally and internationally.


"The Crop Walk is an annual event that is organized by another non-profit organization, Church World Service," said Jane Moore, Community Relations Coordinator at the food bank. "It is designed to increase awareness, as well as raise funds for international disaster relief and issues."

Image of the 2012 Crop Walk held by Hays County Food Bank
Used with permission from Hays County Food Bank

People interested in helping this cause, could do so by donating money or goods, participating in the walk to show support or by sponsoring a walker.


"The walkers recruit people to sponsor them at any amount," said Moore. "The overall money that is collected goes to Church World Service."


This year's walk was about four miles in all, said Lisa Henggeler, Donor Development Coordinator at the food bank.


"We started at the San Marcos Plaza Park and then walked down along the river and the baseball fields," said Henggeler.


Since the walk is an annual event, there were a lot of groups that had participated in past years that knew it would be coming up, said Henggeler.


The food bank also used their Texas State University interns to raise awareness about the CROP walk and the Hays County Food Bank's mission.


"I did various things to help organize and promote the CROP walk, but reaching the students at Texas State was my main goal," said Jesse Buchoz, an intern at the food bank. "Most students do not even know that San Marcos has a food bank."


One organization that Buchoz found to support and sponsor the food bank had a presence at the walk itself.


"FashioNation, a non-profit organization on campus, set up a little table and did some face painting," said Moore. "There was a Texas State representation besides our interns."

Volunteer with the Hays County Food Bank to help feed families

By Brianna Blowers

Hays County Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that has been in business since 1984 thanks to a group of concerned citizens. Their mission has been to bring food to people in need. The Food Bank has distributed over half a million pounds of food just last year alone. With the number of families needing food growing, the need for volunteers is also increasing.

The Food Bank encourages people to help in any way they can. Community Relations Coordinator Jane Moore spreads the word to newspapers and various nearby businesses in hopes that “their businesses will provide volunteers or opportunities for us to share information of what [the food bank] needs.”

Official Hays County Food Bank Internship Flyers

There are many ways to show support, even for people with the busiest lifestyles. Tweeting about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities or “liking” Hays County Food Bank on Facebook are quick and easy ways to spread the word virally. 

Back up van drivers are needed along with people who are willing to answer the phone, meet visitors, and process thank you notes for an hour or two a day, every little bit counts.

The application process to become a regular volunteer is “short and simple,” says Volunteer Coordinator Nicole George. This includes a 30-minute orientation to show how the Food Bank works followed by signing up for volunteer hours. The Food Bank keeps track of the hours.

“We have regular volunteers and we also accept community service volunteers, said George. “We do appreciation events to recognize [the volunteers] for their contribution.”

The Hays County Food bank picks up donations from HEB stores in San Marcos, Kyle and Buda along with various other restaurants in town.

“Contributions from HEB have just grown enormously”, said Moore, “including the amount we get and the number of days we can pick it up.” The Hays County Food bank picks up donations from HEB stores in San Marcos, Kyle and Buda 7 days a week.

“Our office is open from Monday through Friday, but on the weekends we have a Weekend Crew Leader, Eric Lundquist, who picks up from HEB on Saturday and Sunday morning,” said Donor Development Coordinator Lisa Henggeler.