English
Spanish
Spurs Give, Tim Duncan Foundation donation provides 25,000 meals for San Antonio Food Bank
The Spurs Give and Tim Duncan Foundation have announced a $200,000 donation to the San Antonio Food Bank, in an effort to help the growing need for local families during the coronavirus pandemic.
The donation will allow the food bank to deliver more than 25,000 meals over the next five weeks to families living in low-income apartment complexes around the city, the Spurs said in a news release. Spurs Give is a non-profit set up by Spurs Sports and Entertainment.
“As the need for food assistance in our community continues to grow, we cannot afford to be bystanders,” said Jennifer Regnier, Executive Director at Spurs Give. “Thousands of San Antonians do not know where their next meal is coming from, and need us now more than ever.”
The meals will be delivered from six local restaurants— Bistr09, Botika, Cherrity Bar, Guerilla Gormet, Pharm Table and Nonna Osteria. With the new delivery initiative, officials hope that this will be able to tackle the problem of transportation to the food bank that some families are facing.
“These restaurants that they are partnering with are in need also and we need that support from the community,” said Geronimo Lopez, owner of Botika. “And this is a good way to do that because this way we can bring back people into our kitchens and help restaurants get back on track but also help our community around us that need us.”
The donation is part of the formation of the Spurs Give Together Fund from Spurs Give, which has raised more than $1 million to help families impacted by the pandemic in San Antonio.
Eric S. Cooper, President and CEO at the San Antonio Food Bank described the delivery system as “innovation at its best.”
“Significant donations from Spurs Give and the Tim Duncan Foundation will keep paychecks flowing for restaurant staff as they make meals for kids and seniors in need, “ Cooper said in the news release. “Many of these restaurant staff members might find themselves in a Food Bank food line if not for gifts of support like these two. The donations also have the added benefit of sending scratch meals from some of San Antonio’s best chefs to hundreds of households facing hunger for the first time.”
The meal delivery program is specific to unique apartment complexes operated by the non-profit Prospera, said San Antonio Food Bank chief resource officer Michael Guerra. The program has already started, with volunteers starting drop-offs Tuesday.
The San Antonio Food Bank has become a vital resource for families during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, more than 10,000 families lined up in a single day to pickup food from the non-profit.
“Our demand has pretty much doubled and we are trying to work hard to make sure that no child goes hungry,” Cooper said.
Cooper said the Food Bank usually feeds 60,000 people a week, but with the crisis their numbers have been reaching almost 150,000 per week.
