Every family in Dallas deserves a pathway to self-sufficiency. Dallas County has the fourth-highest rate of food-insecure children in the nation. On a daily basis, our community is battling food insecurity, a lack of educational resources, economic instability and more. Forty years ago, the Wilkinson Center was founded to provide Dallas families with resources and opportunity to combat these challenges and secure a brighter future.   On average, we serve more than 2,000 clients every month through our hunger relief programs. Most of our clients are young families with school-aged children. This past fiscal year, we distributed more than one million pounds of food through our Clients Choice model pantry and our mobile pantry.   Our Clients Choice food pantry allows families to come into our pantry and shop for the food they want and need. Families are allotted roughly 60 to 80 pounds of non-perishable and perishable food items. In addition to our physical location, the mobile pantry delivers 20 to 30 pounds of food directly to clients via our refrigerated truck.   Additionally, the Wilkinson Center offers a Stock Up for Summer program, which provides food items that are often more difficult to source for the food pantry, such as eggs, peanut butter and jelly and shelf-stable milk. Through this program, we provide children with pre-packed meals that are easy to prepare, such as microwavable macaroni and cheese, cereal, milk and juice and breakfast bars. This past June and July, we were able to serve 4,000 kids across our community.   These programs are a critical resource for the Dallas community. The food pantry provides immediate hunger relief and ensures access to nutritious, healthy food.   One monthly food pantry client of ours stated, "I enjoy coming to the food pantry because of the variety and the amount of food I receive. It helps me and my daughter make ends meet. I also participate in case management and employment coaching. They have given me hope in getting a job and they also helped me with a gift card to help get to my appointments with my employment coach."   We are proud to be able to lend a hand to our community in their times of need. We are also incredibly grateful for the support of organizations such as the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF). Their volunteers from across the insurance industry play a critical role beyond simply distributing food. IICF volunteers have assisted in keeping our food pantry restocked and help our clients with shopping as well. They are always enthusiastic, welcoming and respectful as they answer questions about the available food or assist older adults with mobility issues.   This month, as the IICF enters into its Month of Giving, an annual event dedicated to celebrating volunteerism and giving back, we look forward to welcoming their volunteers once again. Please join us as we look to support Dallas communities and combat food insecurity. To learn more about us, please visit: https://www.thewilkinsoncenter.org/

Lori Baum

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