Church makes 3rd donation of year to High Plains Food Bank

Michael Cuviello, Amarillo Globe-News
·4 min read

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints made its third donation of the year Wednesday morning to the High Plains Food Bank with a truck filled with nine pallets of shelf-life food in Amarillo.

Lani Hall, stake communications director with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, spoke about her organization’s commitment to working with the High Plains Food Bank to fight food insecurity in the Texas Panhandle.

“About two years ago, we started donating about quarterly to the High Plains Food Bank to make a community outreach with our church being involved in filling the need for food in the Panhandle,” Hall said. “We are here to support the greatest needs in the community, one of which being the food insecurity in the community.”

Lani Hall, the stake communications director with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Zach Wilson, executive director of the High Plains Food Bank, stand in front of the donated pallets of food Wednesday in Amarillo.
Lani Hall, the stake communications director with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Zach Wilson, executive director of the High Plains Food Bank, stand in front of the donated pallets of food Wednesday in Amarillo.

Hall said that her church hopes to impact the community by giving back and alleviating some of the stress on the High Plains Food Bank. She also said that her group also makes a yearly donation to Catholic Charities in the area.

“Also, with the Perryton disaster, we gave food here to help that community with disaster relief in that area,” Hall said. “We did this because the High Plains Food Bank services the areas of the Texas Panhandle.”

Lani Hall, the stake communications director with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Zach Wilson, executive director of the High Plains Food Bank, have a discussion Wednesday in front of the donated pallets of food Wednesday in Amarillo.
Lani Hall, the stake communications director with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Zach Wilson, executive director of the High Plains Food Bank, have a discussion Wednesday in front of the donated pallets of food Wednesday in Amarillo.

The food donated from the church is canned and processed in the Salt Lake City area from farms owned by the church throughout the country, for the express purpose of aiding communities throughout the country. This is the third truckload that the church delivered to the High Plains Food Bank, and two other truckloads went to the Hereford and Perryton communities.

“The main purpose of these farms is to provide these types of items so that our church can provide food to these communities,” Hall said. “We support communities all over the United States.”

Zach Wilson, executive director of the High Plains Food Bank, said that with it being the middle of summer, food donations are starting to regress.

Nine shelf-life foods and dish soap pallets were delivered to the High Plains Food Bank on Wednesday morning in Amarillo.
Nine shelf-life foods and dish soap pallets were delivered to the High Plains Food Bank on Wednesday morning in Amarillo.

“Overall, for the year, food donations are down as well as monetary donations,” Wilson said. "We have disaster responses and are continuing long-term recovery efforts for the natural disasters in Perryton and Hereford.”

Wilson emphasized that donations are down to many factors, including inflation and area disasters. The number of people being serviced by the High Plains Food Bank has increased to about 10,000 households and is still rising.

“We have started to see food donations go down while the need for food is rising,” Wilson said. “The timing of this donation, as always, is great. We have been responding to Perryton, and all our partners across all 28 counties have said that there is a greater need for more food and selection."

Shelf-life foods and other nonfood items such as dish soap are always a great need in these communities, according to Wilson. He said that with the natural disasters in the area, donations are dropping with a greater need for these items.

The High Plains Food Bank services 28 counties in the Texas Panhandle for food insecurity.
The High Plains Food Bank services 28 counties in the Texas Panhandle for food insecurity.

“With school about to start, I know that many people have other focuses, but we have to keep going because if the need does not wane for food, we will go into the holidays with record high numbers for food needs,” Wilson said.

Wilson emphasized that the best way to help the food bank is through financial donations, especially with supply chain issues for food delivery and acquisition not being a major factor anymore.

The High Plains Food Bank is working with Jira Outreach in Perryton, which has run a food pantry in the city for more than two decades, due to its knowledge of the needs of the area. Jira Outreach itself was a victim of the recent tornado, having its building destroyed by the storm's high winds.

A variety of items that were donated Wednesday by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the High Plains Food Bank.
A variety of items that were donated Wednesday by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the High Plains Food Bank.

He said that when you pair the need already in the community along with the effect of the disasters, the food bank is feeling the crunch to provide for those in need.

“We still have such a great need in those affected by the natural disasters in the area, and these needs will be long-term,” Wilson said. "We get calls from seniors that are homebound and are not able to get out. We are working with our partners in Perryton to do a monthly food distribution to those that have not been able to rebuild and are still working through that process.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Church donates pallets to High Plains Food Bank as need rises