Village Farms International Inc. is helping to feed over 10,000 families in Texas with donations throughout the state to local food banks and food pantries. Demand for donations has been higher than usual due to the COVID-19 crisis and Village Farms has been stepping up its donations of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to meet this need.
Village Farms operates three growing operations in the towns of Marfa and Fort Davis, where it is the largest employer in both Davis and Presidio counties. Village Farms also operates a state-of-the-art high-tech greenhouse in the Permian Basin region. Village Farms also operates one distribution center within the city of Fort Worth — all facilities are within Texas.
Over the last two weeks Village Farms has donated over 10 truckloads, equivalent to approximately 400,000 pound or 200 tons of fresh produce to numerous organizations who distribute food to help feed those in need. Some of the food distribution organizations Village Farms has been able to help thus far are:
- Tarrant Area Food Bank, Fort Worth & Dallas
- South Cliff Baptist Church, Fort Worth
- West Texas Food Bank, Odessa
- El Paso Food Bank, El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, El Paso
- Marfa Food Pantry Saluvida Inc., Marfa
- Food Pantry of Jeff Davis County, Fort Davis
- First Baptist Church, Alpine
- Grace Christian Fellowship, Alpine
- Sunshine House, Alpine
- Big Bend Family Crisis Center, Terlingua
“I want to express a great appreciation for Village Farms and the massive impact they have had on the lives of thousands of people weekly here in North Texas,” said said Caroll Marr, senior pastor at South Cliff Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
Marr said every day by 4 p.m. there are hundreds of cars lined up across four lanes in the church parking lot and said it has been a learning curve in trying to gear up for the sheer amount of people in need of food but he felt that they had it down to a science now. “It also gives the young adults who have been volunteering an opportunity to help in a meaningful way and allows the older adults to stay safely at home,” he said.
“Times are about to become much harder for many so this (donation) was truly a much needed ray of sunshine,” said Nina Dietzel, who represents Marfa Food Pantry.
Kym Flippo, who represents the Big Bend Crisis Center in Terlingua, told Village Farms, “Food is love and I thank you for both.”
According to Village Farms President and Chief Executive Officer Michael A. DeGiglio, “Farming and food distribution has been deemed an essential business by our government during this crisis. I am proud of all of the Village Farms employees companywide who are working tirelessly to ensure healthy and safe produce is getting to our retail partners as well as those in need. And, we are thankful to be able to do a small part during this national crisis”.
