Inflation forcing many Houstonians to choose between essentials such as buying gas or food

HOUSTON - A big question in the summer is often "where are you headed for vacation?" But for a growing number of Houstonians, a popular thing to ask has become "where will my next meal come from?" So we checked in with the Houston Food Bank on one of its latest efforts in northeast Houston.

Volunteering and giving donations typically take a backseat to traveling during the summer, but just ask the hundreds of people who stopped by Victory International Church to pick up food from the Houston Food Bank, and they’ll tell you hunger doesn’t take a vacation.

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"Yeah. It’s a low income neighborhood over here," explains resident Bob Terry.  

So the Victory International Church on Rittenhouse near Airline Drive and He Heard My Cry Ministries has now partnered with the Houston Food Bank to give food from the church parking lot to area residents in need. 

"Oh my goodness. You know, sometimes it's just so hard to get to the end of the month," says Rachel Martinez, who says it’s tough to make ends meet because, "I’m on disability, so I’m not getting much."

"I’m a retiree. I get $1,500 a month. That ain't no money. I worked 30 something years to get that. So what they’re doing here for us is a blessing," Terry adds. 

"This is mainly a Hispanic neighborhood and most of our people, they suffer because they don’t know where they need to go in order to find help," said Victory International Church Associate Pastor Mauricio Marin. 

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Help is now in the neighborhood. 

"At least twice a month we are going to be here at 170 Rittenhouse opening up the doors to the community. We like to say we are a ministry in motion. It simply means we don’t believe everything we do needs to be done inside the four walls of the church," says Victory International Church Head Pastor Claude Cummings III. 

"Most of the food is vegetables and fruits, and also we have rice and bread," says Associate Pastor Marin. 

Houstonians turning to the Houston Food Bank for meals more than doubled when the pandemic hit, going from about 400,000 pounds of food given daily up to 1-million pounds of food served to Houston families every day. The food bank says that number has now leveled off to nearly 611,000 pounds daily, and now with inflation, the need for help with food isn’t going away.  

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"That’s why I ain’t running gas, because I can’t afford gas sometimes. You eat or buy gas. That’s the way it goes now, and it shouldn’t be like that in America," Terry says with his SUV windows down in 100 degree weather while waiting to pick up the food. 

Summer is also a time when kids are not receiving meals at school, and they may not have food at home.

If you would like to donate food or volunteer, reach out to the Houston Food Bank by clicking here or Victory International Church by clicking here.