Christian Community Action announced Monday that it has received a capacity-building grant of over $220,000 from the North Texas Food Bank.
The grant allowed CCA to upgrade some of its warehouse equipment, vehicles and the computer system in its food pantry, 200 South Mill St. in Lewisville, according to a CCA news release.
“We simply could not do what we do in the fight against hunger without the support of partners like Christian Community Action,” said Trisha Cunningham, President and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “Our grant program provides needed resources to our partner agencies, allowing them to serve more people in their community. We are grateful for the commitment and dedication of Christian Community Action to provide hunger relief in our community.”
Among the items the grant provided for CCA are a refrigerated truck, a cargo van, forklift, produce coolers, pallet jacks, forklift scale, shopping carts, computers and screen displays, according to the news release.
“Christian Community Action’s ability to address food insecurity on such a large scale is only possible due to the tremendous support of the North Texas Food Bank,” said Gilbert Montez, CEO of CCA. “Every day the need to provide good healthy food to Denton County families is growing, and with NTFB’s longstanding partnership, we can fulfill our mission of alleviating suffering, bringing hope, and changing lives.”
As a client-choice pantry, individuals can directly select the foods they need, much as they would in a traditional grocery store. The pantry expects to distribute approximately 2.7 million pounds of food annually, equivalent to 10,000 meals per day, to Denton County families and individuals in need.
The families served at the pantry not only have access to food, but they will also receive case management services as needed. Case managers are available to help families and individuals sign up for other family strengthening resources, including financial literacy classes, GED, English-as-a-Second Language classes, computer literacy classes, spiritual care, and job readiness workshops.
CCA also assists families with financial resources for rent and utilities, and provides a summer feeding program, a back-to-school program, and Christmas toys and books for children, and a program dedicated to assisting elderly individuals with food and other resources.