Tarrant Area Food Bank

Children's programs tafb continued expanding our "ready to learn" program, which includes childhood and college feeding and programs that focus on food, education and advocacy. "ready to learn" works to alliviate hunger by linking nutrition and education by partnering with schools, colleges, and local agencies to provide meals, programs and resources to help students thrive. Key efforts include expanding "ready to learn" in-school markets, which provide access to kid-friendly, nutritious groceries in local schools, offering convenience and variety to the youth and families on-site at a title i campus. "ready to learn" in-school markets were installed in 27 schools in fy 24, reaching a total of 100 across tafb's 13-county service area. The in-school snack program provides title i schools with kid-friendly snacks for students during school hours as a supplement in between meals. Most recently, we launched our after school and summer camp program that provides age-appropriate nutrition, gardening, and food banking education for youth pre-k - 12th grade and our junior ambassador program that is available to high school students who are ready to lead, serve and advocate for hunger issues affecting their community.

Educational and outreach programs in fy24, our community health team provided neighbors with nutrition and garden education and program support. Neighbors received 112 sessions of garden education. The community garden network provided resources and support to 70 partner gardens, grew more than 4 tons of fresh produce, and distributed more than 7000 seedlings and seed packages. In fy24, our community resource specialists completed 7,716 supplemental nutrition assistance program (s.n.a.p.) applications, bringing over $40m in economic impact to our local community. Tafb continued our warehouse logistics job training program called f.o.r.k. (forklift operations and receiving knowledge). Graduates received job placement assistance with vetted employer partners who pay a living wage, offer healthcare benefits, and have career advancement opportunities. Healthcare partnerships in fy24, we continued developing new healthcare partnerships with hospital systems and medical clinics, started a healthy food box home delivery program for homebound patients, and established a healthcare referral process connecting patients to community resources such as s.n.a.p., w.i.c., and medicaid. Tafb's registered dietitians provide nutritonal education, train healthcare providers on how to conduct food insecurity screenings and ensure their patients are connected to food and nutrition resources. Tafb produced 37.3k medically tailored, healthy ready-to-eat meals and conducted 160 desease prevention classes. Veteran programs tafb serves those who serve our country by providing food, nutrition education, garden programs and community resources at veteran affairs clinics and the naval air station joint reserve base. Older adult programs seniors are one of the more vulnerable populations served by tafb. With many seniors living on a fixed income, this population can struggle to make ends meet each month. Tafb offers two programs specifically for seniors to ensure they have access to healthy food. Senior shares provide a farmer's market style of distribution to seniors at community centers, churches, and senior housing complexes. The commodity supplemental food program (csfp), started at tarrant area food bank in 2023 and grew in 2024, is a federally funded food distribution effort that provides a monthly box of nutritious groceries, with a corresponding menu plan, to low-income seniors to improve their health, nutrition, and well-being. Each month, over 2,000 seniors in our service area receive a csfp box containing 30 pounds of food. The csfp box also contains a recipe or handout that helps them best utilize the food in their box for their health needs. In their box for their health needs.