Just because the Food Pantry of Jeff Davis County has “food pantry” in its name doesn’t mean it has to look like a typical warehouse-type building.
In fact, with new upgrades to the facility, the organization has made updates to make the location feel more like a grocery store, and they are asking people to check it out.
From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 20, the Food Pantry of Jeff Davis County is scheduled to host an open house to showcase the updates. Light refreshments and door prizes will be available, as will music performed by the guitar ensemble from Sul Ross University.
The organization will also be celebrating 25 years of helping battle food insecurity.
“We spent months remodeling our facility and expanding it,” Executive Director Vicki Gibson said. “We would like everybody in the community to come and check out our remodeled facility and see everything we’re doing at the food pantry.”
The remodel includes redesigning the food pantry to look like a standard grocery store, including shopping carts and aisles. Clients can select their own food to reduce food waste.
Additional storage space was added to give the food pantry the ability to store more food items, Gibson said, and an 800-square-foot extension was added to store nonfood items.
Having bimonthly distribution locations in Fort Davis, Valentine and the Davis Mountain Resort, the Fort Davis location includes drive-through and online ordering for those in need. Delivery is also offered to clients who are homebound.
Despite the county’s small population, Gibson said 32 percent of residents, or 603 people, are clients.
Jeff Davis County also ranks first in Texas for school-age child poverty and sixth in the nation. The overall child poverty rate in the county is about 37 percent.
Lacking cafeterias in the schools and not participating in the National School Lunch Program, the food pantry also assists with its Pack-A-Lunch program, which provides one lunch and a healthy snack to students every day of the year.
A children’s food pantry is also available at the Jeff Davis County Library for all children, from infants to high school students.
“Our emphasis is on feeding children, and we feed all ages in our community,” Gibson said.
Board Member Cameron Pratt, who has been in the position for three years, said the food pantry is a wonderful asset to the community.
Moving to Fort Davis not long after Hurricane Harvey hit their home in Port Aransas in 2017, Pratt said she and her husband moved because of their history in the area — their first date was canoeing at Santa Elena Canyon.
Unknowingly talking with board members not long after moving to the area, Pratt said she had ideas on how to help raise funds for the food pantry. She soon got a call offering her a position.
With the remodels, Pratt hopes people will come and see how much work goes into their operation.
“We have this fabulous new remodel,” she said. “I feel this is one of the most inviting food pantries in the state, if not the country.”
If you go
- What: Food Pantry of Jeff Davis County Open House.
- When: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 20.
- Where: Food Pantry of Jeff Davis County, 609 Compromise St., Fort Davis.
- Cost: Free.
- Call: 432-426-3886 for more information.
