East Texas organization, business helping food insecure ahead of holidays

EAST TEXAS, Texas (KLTV) - Just over a week away from Thanksgiving, the East Texas Food Bank mobile pantry team welcomed and served nearly 300 families at the newest mobile pantry in Gilmer Tuesday afternoon.

“Around the holidays, we do see many more clients coming, and so we try to load our trucks with as much extra food as we possibly can for them,” said Maureen Dobyns, ETFB Mobile Pantry Manager.

The non-profit distributes fresh produce to those in need with no identification required. They will host a Thanksgiving distribution on November 20 at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler and a produce distribution on November 21st at the Expo in Lufkin. For the full calendar of distributions and events, click here.

“When we have people that are food insecure, one in five Texans, we want everyone to feel welcome and to know that we’re happy they’re here. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of by visiting a mobile pantry location. We love having client participation,” said Dobyns.

As they have done for the past few years, Longview law firm Goudarzi & Young is giving away the staple item of almost every Thanksgiving meal: the turkey.

“This is just a little something that we can give back to those in need, and we’re proud to do it,” said attorney Brent Goudarzi. “It’s first come, first served to those in need.”

They will give out over 700 turkeys between their two distributions: One on November 20 at the office in Longview and one on November 21 at the Fair Grounds in Gilmer. Both distributions will start at 10 a.m. and will last until they run out of turkeys.

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