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MEDICAL YEAR
IN REVIEW

San Antonio Food Bank:

A National and International Spotlight During COVID-19 Pandemic

By Michael Guerra, Chief Development Officer, San Antonio Food Bank

T he last few years have put the San Antonio Food Bank in the FOOD: This year San Antonio Food Bank will source and redistribute

nearly $150,000,000 in food, the majority of which is perishable,
national and international spotlight as it innovated and flexed
to meet the humanitarian crisis brought on by the COVID-
19 pandemic. The Food Bank will be remembered for meeting the healthy food aimed at setting dinner tables for households facing
hunger. The Food Bank allocates its food with an equity model that
emergency food needs of the local community, that for so many were ensures communities that are historically underserved are given priority
a first-time experience. The images of parking lots filled with cars wait- and their fair share of food.
ing for food, coupled with heroic volunteers serving alongside Food
Bank staff to fill trunks with emergency food, will be forever etched in EDUCATION: Realizing that the way out of poverty is through ed-
the minds and hearts of residents. Now, as the Food Bank pivots on ucation and a living wage, the Food Bank has helped place food
the backside of the pandemic, the organization has been able to once pantries in all local colleges and universities. In addition, the organi-
again focus less on leading an emergency response and more on getting zation has placed full-time staff at each of the five campuses of the
back to its core work of equitable distribution of nutritious food across Alamo Colleges District. These staff help students navigate a variety
a 29-county region of Central and South Texas. of social needs they might encounter during their studies, and for these
Under CEO Eric Cooper’s leadership, the Food Bank has launched students, the biggest barrier to graduation is not flunking out, but
a comprehensive response to food insecurity for the region, a response rather poverty.
that leads with food but also highlights education, employment and
housing. The framework is titled “Secure San Antonio.” Here is a brief EMPLOYMENT: For nearly two decades, the Food Bank has led
overview of the components. job training and placement programs (culinary arts and warehouse

18 SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • December 2022