CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Most senior citizens are living on a fixed income and the Coastal Bend Food Bank (CBFB) has created a new program that will help those in need.
The Senior Box Program will now be a continuous part of the CBFB it was only in place during the pandemic but they noticed that during the distributions a lot of elderly folks were the ones in need.
Concetta Motto is one of the nearly 400 seniors who showed up to the CBFB to receive her Senior Box.
“You can’t even go to the grocery store without spending $100 or more and that doesn’t even make it through a couple of weeks,” Motto said.
“This is our very first mobile pantry for elder people for seniors, and so we are now going to have these on a regular basis for seniors 60 or over,” executive director of the Coastal Bend Food Bank, Bea Hanson said.
She added that the program is extremely important because a lot of the seniors are living on fixed incomes.
“We have found some senior couples or singles who have reduced their food intake to once a day, and that is not healthy they need three meals a day, they need their protein and their vegetables and that is what we are doing, we are making sure they have that,” Hanson said.
Motto said that if it wasn't for the CBFB she doesn't know how she would make it through the month. She tells KRIS 6 News she lives by herself and the groceries keep getting more and more expensive.
“If it wasn’t for programs like this people wouldn’t eat, there are some people that only have this every month,” she said.
Motto said this program not only helps her get by—it also helps her stay healthy.
“it excites me to see what I am going to get every month because everything is fresh and delicious, everything is good, it's really good quality and I love it and I look forward to it every month,” Motto said.
The CBFB makes it their mission to tackle food insecurity, they strive to improve the quality of life for senior community members, ensuring they have consistent access to vital resources.
For more information about the Senior Food Box Program and how to register please click here or contact Megan Tedder, Senior Feeding Program Specialist at 361.887.6291 ext. 5118.
