- Partnership with Austin Public Health and Amazon aims to grow from the 550+ households currently enrolled to 1,800 households.
- Participants receive a monthly box of healthy, shelf-stable groceries via contactless delivery directly to their homes.
- All groceries and delivery are free of charge.
Austin, TX (September 16, 2021) – The Central Texas Food Bank has expanded its home delivery program, executed in partnership with the Austin Public Health Neighborhood Services Unit and Amazon, to now include individuals with a disability, veterans, and active military members experiencing barriers to attending in-person food distributions. The program, which began on June 1 of this year to provide monthly home delivery of a box of healthy, shelf-stable groceries to families with children and adults 60+, is now available throughout Travis County to these three additional groups.
All groceries are free, and Amazon donates free delivery services through their network of Amazon delivery service partners, who make safe, contactless deliveries directly to participants’ homes. Austin Public Health provides caseload management, screening, and enrollment. The service delivers a box with enough food for 25 meals. To date, the program has delivered more than 23,000 meals.
“We’re so pleased to be able to expand the home delivery program to people with disabilities, veterans, and active military members who face hunger and may be unable to make it to our distribution sites,” said Derrick Chubbs, President and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank. “Working together with Austin Public Health and Amazon to deliver food to those in need is a great enhancement to the services we provide to the community and it’s great to be able to bring this service to even more of our neighbors in need.”
“We are very excited to expand this innovative program and help get food to more people’s doorsteps, feeding families one box at a time,” said Debbie Martinez, Community Worker at Austin Public Health’s Neighborhood Services Unit.
The goal of the home delivery program is to serve more people in need by increasing the accessibility of food assistance for underserved households. Once enrolled, participants will receive a recurring monthly food box with approximately 30 pounds of groceries such as oatmeal, pasta, corn flour, dried beans, canned protein, and canned fruits and vegetables delivered directly to their doorstep by Amazon.
The program recently added a second delivery day each week and is currently making deliveries on the first, second, third, and fourth Tuesdays and Wednesdays of each month. Participants can choose to un-enroll in the program at any time. For those in need of food assistance who do not qualify for this program, the Food Bank has a proxy policy, which allows clients to send someone to pickup food on their behalf directly from the pantry.
“Since last year, Amazon has been committed to supporting communities across the country experiencing food insecurity by connecting homebound or mobility-restricted families with meals from local food banks,” said Bettina Stix, Director of Right Now Needs and Disaster Relief at Amazon. “We’re a global business but we have local roots set firmly in the communities in which we live and work, like Central Texas. Amazon employs, trains, and upskills local people, and we are proud to use what we are known for in our local philanthropic partnership with the Central Texas Food Bank to ensure families’ basic needs are met in the region.
Since March 2020, Amazon has supported food banks and community organizations with free, contactless delivery of groceries and pre-packaged meals directly to the doorsteps of vulnerable groups. Using Amazon’s network of delivery service partners around the world, deliveries now total more than 12 million meals to underserved families, vulnerable seniors, and school children in more than 25 U.S. cities and in communities across Australia, Japan, Singapore, Spain, and the U.K.
With this expansion, the program is now open to Travis County households with children, households with adults ages 60+, people with disabilities, veterans, and active military members who are in need of food assistance and are experiencing barriers to attending in-person food distributions. To determine eligibility and/or enroll in the program, go to centraltexasfoodbank.org/home-delivery-program or contact the nearest Neighborhood Center from the list below.
Rosewood Zaragosa Neighborhood Center
Central East Austin
2800 Webberville Road
512-972-6740
South Austin Neighborhood Center
South Austin
2508 Durwood Street
512-972-6840
St. John Community Center
Northeast Austin
7500 Blessing Avenue
512-972-5159
East Austin Neighborhood Center
East Austin
211 Comal Street
512-972-6650
Montopolis Community Center
Southeast Austin
1200 Montopolis Drive
512-972-6705
Blackland Neighborhood Center
Central East Austin
2005 Salina Street
512-972-5790
ABOUT THE CENTRAL TEXAS FOOD BANK
The mission of Central Texas Food Bank is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in the fight against hunger. Founded in 1981, the Food Bank provides food and grocery products through a network of nearly 300 Partner Agencies and nutrition programs, serving nearly 75,000 people every week. Headquartered in Austin, the Food Bank serves 21 counties in Central Texas, an area about twice the size of Massachusetts. For more information on the Food Bank and its programs, visit www.centraltexasfoodbank.org.
ABOUT AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH
Austin Public Health is the health department for the City of Austin and Travis County. Austin Public Health works to prevent disease, promote health and protect the well-being of all by monitoring and preventing infectious diseases and environmental threats and educating about the benefits of preventative behaviors to avoid chronic diseases and improve health outcomes.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Paul Gaither
Director of Marketing & Communications, Central Texas Food Bank
Phone: 512-684-2528
Cell: 512-550-9030
pgaither@centraltexasfoodbank.org
Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
Jen Samp
Public Information & Marketing Manager, Austin Public Health
Phone: 512-972-6115
Jen.samp@austintexas.gov
