Inside the Central Texas Food Bank’s new Waco Hub, neighbors can walk through a market, grab a shopping cart and browse the aisles stocked with canned goods, fresh produce and meats just like any traditional grocery store.
In addition to the market, the new 64,000-square-foot hub will house dry and refrigerated warehouse spaces, a commercial and teaching kitchen, benefits counseling, and workforce training.
“The building is not the accomplishment,” CTFB CEO Sari Vatski said at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “What happens inside of it is.”
The Waco Hub celebrated its grand opening on August 24, though it has been serving families in the Waco area since its soft opening August 4.
“Even as we stand here, there are families waiting for food. Every day since we've opened, there have been people standing outside this building waiting for us to be ready,” Vatske said.
But Vatske says the food bank isn't just trying to move more food. It's also trying to change what it feels like to need help.
“There can be a stigma, there can be shame in needing support,” she said.
That's why the new hub includes an on-site market designed to feel more like a grocery store.
“We want them to feel a sense of relief – that they are seen, they are supported,” she said.
Jeremy Everett is the Executive Director at Baylor’s Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty. With inflation driving up food and gas prices, he said the facility’s opening couldn’t come sooner.
“The misnomer oftentimes is that people that are food insecure actually are not working. But the reality is, people are working, they’re just underemployed,” Everett explained.
The Waco Hub, located at 1402 Gholson Road, is the food bank’s first location outside of Austin.
That decision, Vatske said, came from a data driven approach.
“We are looking at about nineteen percent food insecurity rate (in the nine northern counties) versus seventeen percent overall,” she said.
In addition to direct community service in Waco, the new facility with also serve the nine northern counties in CTFB’s 21-county service area. Those counties include Bell, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Lampasas, Limestone, Mills, McLennan, and San Saba counties.
Everett said that could be especially important as changes to SNAP increase demand on food banks and pantries.
“That means that we're getting more coverage for the Waco community to be able to access the food they need to live and flourish as God intended,” Everett said.
And the East Waco location provides extra support for a community facing the highest rates of food insecurity in Waco.
“This facility is really meant to be a front-facing community resource,” Vatske said. “So we wanted it to serve those who might need it most.”
Got a tip? Email Molly-Jo Tilton at Molly-jo_tilton@baylor.edu.
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