Construction is almost complete for the Central Texas Food Bank’s Waco regional hub. The Waco facility will be the food bank’s first location outside the Austin area, where it’s based.
The food bank already serves as the main supplier of food to local food ministries – providing 7 to 8 million pounds of food to Caritas and Shepard’s Heart annually.
"Having a facility in Waco will enable us to serve more and serve faster and serve more directly," CEO Sari Vatski said.
Executive Director of Caritas, Ann Owen, said her organization has already received almost one million pounds of food from the food bank this year.
"It takes all the food pantries to help folks because we’re not here to fill a whole month’s worth of groceries for them," Owen said.
Caritas sees on average 2,500 families per month.
"It’ll help all of us become more effective in serving the community because there is such a great need," Owen said of the new Waco facility.
Located at 1402 Gholson Road, the facility is expected to open in June. The 64,000 square-foot building will include a storage warehouse, sorting facility, public food pantry and workforce training.
Owen said that location will help serve the East Waco residents who often struggle to make Caritas' daily distributions.
Until the opening of the Central Texas Food Bank location, there has been no permanent food pantry for East Waco.
"This facility is meant to be a public facing, community resource for those facing food insecurity," Vatske said.
She said the decision to place the the Waco facility in East Waco, near the Melody Grove (formerly Estella Maxey) Apartments, was intentional.
"We wanna put it in a place that was accessible to those who needed it most," Vatske said.
According to a Propser Waco Snapshot from 2024, East Waco faces both the highest rates of food insecurity and poverty in the city.
Over the summer, Vatske said, the food bank will offer hot meals for students, but they will be operating with limited hours. By fall, they plan to be opened after school and on weekends when most other facilities are closed.
"In no way is this meant to supplant what’s already happening," Vatske said. "It’s meant to bolster it and be an asset and a resource."
The food bank is anticipating a 10% increase in food distribution in the nine northern counties served by the Waco facility - Bell, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Lampasas, Limestone, Mills, McLennan and San Saba counties - whose average rate of food insecurity sits around 20%. That translates to roughly 3 million more meals each year.
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