Carol Stewart shops for food Dec. 11 at the East Texas Food Bank's Longview Resource Center. (Les Hassell/Longview News-Journal Photo)

When the East Texas Food Bank’s Longview Resource Center opened in October 2023, the organization’s leaders expected to give away enough food to make about 725,000 meals.

They surpassed that goal. In its first year, the center provided 1.1 million meals, demonstrating how one small operation can have a big impact on a needy community — and highlighting the food insecurity issues that many East Texans face.

The grocery store-style food pantry provides fresh produce, canned food, meat and more as part of its mission to put healthy food on residents’ plates. It also offers people information about resources such as job training and food assistance programs, including the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food assistance to low-income families.

The East Texas Food Bank serves 26 counties and served 31 million meals in fiscal year 2024, according to the organization.

Throughout East Texas, one in six people — including one in four children — are facing hunger. The resource center was located in South Longview because it’s the most impoverished area of the city.

Families and individuals, especially those on fixed incomes, are struggling to put food on the table because of inflation, said Kim Morris, the food bank’s chief impact officer.

The resource center serves people who meet the Emergency Food Assistance Program guidelines. An individual who has an annual income of $26,973 or less qualifies for food assistance. A family of four with an annual income of $55,500 or less also qualifies. If a household is experiencing a crisis, its members might qualify to receive short-term assistance.

People seeking help at the resource center are not required to bring documentation proving their income.

A common misconception is that people in poverty are homeless or unemployed. That’s not true, Morris said. Even people with four-year degrees who are starting jobs may struggle to pay bills. Some of the clients who use the food bank are working more than one job but still unable to make ends meet.

“There are so many Americans who live paycheck to paycheck,” Morris said. “A lot of people who use our services are not unemployed, but over-employed.

“I think that population is hard to convince it’s OK to come get [food],” Morris said. But that, too, is changing for the better.

“We’ve got a lot of folks that have never utilized services using resources at the Longview Resource Center,” she said.

Morris said food bank workers aim to make the resource center a family atmosphere.

“Something that we hear about our team is that the team is very welcoming, very kind, non-judgmental,” she said.

The resource center, a 20,000-square-foot warehouse at 2900 Signal Drive, is staffed by volunteers and paid employees.

On Dec. 11, Carol Stewart — a food bank client and volunteer — walked around the facility as she gathered up groceries.

“I’m getting mushrooms, I’m getting cheese, I’m getting some pork, and I’m getting some creamer for my morning coffee,” she said. “Gotta have my coffee.”

Stewart retired from Eastman Chemical Co. after working there 30 years, but her wages were lower because she didn’t have a college degree. Her retirement is “on the small side,” so she started coming to the food bank.

There, she found the help she needed — and an avenue to help others as a volunteer.

“The clients are sweet. They’re great people,” she said. “I try my darndest to be sweet to everybody. Now, you get a grump every now and then, and most of the time, if you get a grump, they’re hungry.”

People can visit the food pantry once per week. It is open 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. It also is open 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. For information, visit www.easttexasfoodbank.org/longview/.