CHRISTMAS IS SAVED IN many households throughout Galveston County due to the work of Galveston County Food Bank President & CEO Donnie VanAckeren and his tireless staff. Along with the help of other volunteers, VanAckeren and the GCFB assured that Christmas dinner will be a reality for families who had nowhere else to turn.
In this latest The Post Newspaper Q&A, VanAckeren sits down with Editor Brandon C. Williams and discusses how hard work, generosity and — most of all — faith has helped the Galveston County Food Bank during the most challenging period of its existence.
Q: How much pressure do you feel upon the Food Bank considering the amount of demand you’re expecting for Christmas?
Donnie VanAckeren: It’s already building up since the arrival of COVID. We’ve seen it as high as a 60% increase in the need for our services. Here of late, we’re about 40% up for the need. We’ve been holding steady on food, and we’re able to supply and meet the demands. Our concern was growing over going into the first quarter of 2021, but we got some relief that Congress has passed the new farm bill, which will allow us to continue the Farm the Family boxes, which has been a big, big asset to us.
We’re setting good for Christmas. We had a wonderful food drive through Share Your Holidays, which was a partnership with the Houston Food Bank and (KTRK-ABC) Channel 13 along with Ball High School. It brought in an enormous amount of food, which was over 25,000 pounds and $30,000. It was a huge blessing for us, but the need is real. Covid is back with a vengeance. A lot of people are unable to work, but the generosity has made it easier to withstand. We did a couple of programs that gives boxes for the elderly throughout Galveston County, so all of our seniors will get an additional blessing throughout this month as we have been delivering to them.
It’s just so humbling to see how gracious the people of Galveston County are.
Q: With the holiday break arriving, that means many students will not have the cushion of breakfast and lunch at school. Will that also add to the demand you’re expecting?
DV: Absolutely. We scrambled this past weekend to get all the supplemental backpacks for them to have meals over the weekend. We pushed them all out so that kids would go home for break with a two-week supply of food. Our local pantry here in Texas City is certainly busier than before due to the fact the kids are out of school. We’re also seeing it at our mobile sites. This weekend, we saw an influx, but we are really, really blessed that we haven’t had to turn anyone down.
Q: What do you feel is the biggest challenge for the Food Bank entering 2021?
DV: It’s going to be the food. There’s a lot of uncertainties with the new Biden administration, and we depend so much on the Texas Department of Agriculture and those other government agencies that provide for us. We’re a part of Feeding Texas, which is a part of Feeding America, and they do such a wonderful job on our behalf by working directly with Washington and Austin. We’re blessed to be part of those organizations because they have a stronger voice than we as individuals would. The government subsidies certainly do help in getting nutritious food to people who need it.
Q: Most people don’t get the chance to see your staff, but they obviously are a huge part of making things work.
DV: I tell our board all the time that our staff is by far our greatest asset. It’s all possible by their efforts along with the volunteers that we have. There’s so many heroes that make this happen, and certainly, we put the Lord atop the list. I’m humbled to sit here and say there is no reason that we couldn’t do what we do without the Lord’s hand in it.
We have so many churches and pastors that pray with us and for us every day, and you can just feel the power of the Lord in their presence.
Q: How much has faith helped you through all of this?
DV: In the heat of the summer, our trucks were breaking down, and they needed a $3,000 fix. It was like, ‘goodness, how are going to pay for that?” and then someone calls up and says they want to donate $3,000. It’s a scenario like that and the grace and generosity of so many people that has made this possible. I should write a book about how the Lord has blessed us internally but what He’s doing through our community as well.
We’re creating a dynamic culture because of Covid. We see that it doesn’t really matter what profession you’re in or how much education you have, because in the end, something like this happens, and we all need to rely on one another. Hunger has no ethnicity.
Q: If you had one Christmas wish, what would it be?
DV: That everyone has a Merry Christmas and that there’s no one hungry. If they are, they need to call us, because we want to serve them. My fear is that there are people who are out there who don’t know that we can help them, so I need to do a better job of educating the community on the services we provide through the agencies we provide. We have some wonderful partnerships with certain agencies. We need to let everyone know there is help. They shouldn’t have to worry about getting food.
To help the Galveston County Food Bank, call 409-945-4232 or visit the website at www.galvestoncountyfoodbank.org.
