2024 Annual Gratitude Report
YOUR GIVING | THEIR STRENGTH
a year of real impact, lasting change, and deep gratitude
In 2024 you provided
Like you, we believe no child should go hungry
and that with the right support, families can
get back on their feet.
Your generosity helps meet urgent needs
today while planting seeds of
self-reliance for tomorrow.
Thank you for making it possible for
neighbors to get the help – and the dignity they deserve.
OUR NEIGHBORS ARE STILL STRUGGLING
TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE
According to the USDA Economic Research Service, in 2023, households in the lowest income category in our region spent an average of 32% of their after-tax income on food. Many of those households include working adults, children, people with disabilities, the elderly, and veterans.
1 in 4 children in Texas is at risk of going hungry.
Here’s How You’re Helping
Families apply for help and, once qualified, receive monthly points to shop online for the groceries they need. Fresh food, friendly pickup, and three months of support help them work toward self-sufficiency, with compassion and care every step of the way.
BackPack Meals provides elementary students with backpacks filled with meals and snacks for weekends and school breaks. Many children rely on school for a lot of their food, so these backpacks help fill the gap when school cafeterias are closed.
You Helped Ben Think Past Today
and Dream About Tomorrow
High school students enrolled through their campus receive groceries each month-helping their families while learning about nutrition and budgeting. Grub Hub builds self-reliance and ensures teens have the food and support they need to thrive at home and in school.
Ben has faced more than most high school seniors ever should.
His mother is terminally ill and no longer able to speak or walk. She’s now in a rehab facility until the end of her life. Ben moved in with a family member who welcomed him with love. but limited resources.
He’s been working part-time, keeping up with school, and navigating everything from college applications to ordering his cap and gown-all on his own.
For months, Ben didn’t ask for help. It wasn’t until a school interventionist gently encouraged him that he signed up for Grub Hub.
“He realized nobody knows he’s getting groceries. And nobody is judging him,” his school contact shared.
Now, Ben picks up groceries each month—enough for him and his relative. It’s quiet support. No spotlight. Just what he needs to get by and keep going.
Grub Hub gives high school students direct access to healthy food, while also helping them build confidence, responsibility, and stability.
Ben has been with us for sixs, and he’ll stay in the program as long as he needs.
This spring, he was awarded a full scholarship to a private research university.
Your support helped make that possible.
THANK YOU.
Your Support Showed Up When Elizabeth’s World Fell Apart
Elizabeth was working full-time when her
world came crashing down.
Her 28-year-old daughter was hit by a car
while walking along the highway. The injuries
were serious. Life-altering.
Her daughter now lives in a nursing home for
safety, but she still needs care the nursing
home can’t provide.
Care that means getting to doctors in Dallas.
So Elizabeth became the driver. The caregiver.
The one who takes her to appointments, helps
manage her care, and figures out how to make
it all work.
She had to leave her full-time job. The part
time work she’s doing now doesn’t come close
to covering everything.
And that’s where you come in.
“When I come here, I get a month’s worth offood,” she said. “I freeze a lot of it, I put it up in jars-whatever I can do to make it last. It helps me because I’m able to pay my bills.”
Elizabeth is smart, resourceful, and doing
everything she can. But the price of groceries
has gone up so fast, she just can’t keep up. “If
I go to the grocery store and get what I need
for a week, it’s going to cost almost $200.”
I can’t do it. I cannot do it.
She also told us how much she loves the quality
of the food. “A lot of it seems homegrown. It’s
fabulous. The Brussels sprouts we got last time? So good. So good.”
Elizabeth didn’t ask to be in this situation. But
when it happened, your support meant she
didn’t have to face it alone.
So from Elizabeth, and from all of us at HIM
Food Bank: thank you for standing with people
when life takes an unexpected turn. It means
more than you know.
“There’s no way I could do it without the help,” she said.
“Thank you. That’s what I’d like to say-just thank you.”
“You start to know their stories…”
Why Board President, volunteer, and donor, Dave Covert, keeps showing up.
Dave first learned about hunger relief through a friend who collected extra food from grocery stores for a church pantry. Years passed, but the idea stuck with him.
When the pandemic hit and he saw the lines of cars stretching for blocks, it hit home.
“People needed food and didn’t have the money,” he said. “That’s when I started giving monthly.”
But that wasn’t enough. He introduced himself to Lisa and showed up early on a Thursday morning to help with the food drive.
I liked it right away,” he said. “You’d see the same people every week. You’d get to know their faces. There was one mom I’ll never forget she had three young kids in the backseat. One week, we had birthday cakes, and I gave her one. She told me her son had just had a birthday, but she couldn’t afford a cake. She almost started crying.”
Today, Dave serves as Board President, but he’s still eager to be hands-on.
“I’m looking forward to helping with deliveries in our new truck getting food to folks who can’t get to us,” he said.
“This food bank is part of the fabric of our community. It matters. And I’m really proud to be part of it.”
“People are struggling. They’re not lazy. Many are elderly or working low-wage jobs. They’re doing their best. Your support means they don’t have to go hungry on top of everything else.
~Dave Covert
Your Support Turns Crisis Into a Fresh Start
At HIM Food Bank, our mission is to help people move from food crisis to stability. We meet immediate needs with healthy groceries, hygiene products, and cleaning supplieswhile also supporting their next steps toward self-sufficiency.
We continue to serve seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and those with chronic illness long-term. But most families stay in the program for just three months.
That’s our goal: short-term food support while they work to get back on their feet.
Each household completes an application and provides income documentation. After three months, we reevaluate their situation.
This approach keeps our support focused and effective-and with your help, it’s working. Families are finding stability, strength, and relief from the stress of not knowing where their next meal will come from.
250 families graduate monthly from our 3-month self-sufficiency program, eliminating their need for food assistance!
2024 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
Because You Gave with Love – We Spent with Care
- This funding directly supports the people who turn to us for help-covering essential costs like bulk groceries, fuel for our delivery truck, and wages for the hardworking staff who keep our warehouse running each day.
- This funding keeps our programs running by covering essentials like office supplies, administrative salaries, and utilities.
- These dollars help us raise additional support-stretching your impact even further.
Looking forward to 2025
As costs for essentials continue to rise, the number of low-income working adults, families, children, veterans, elderly, and people with disabilities that need assistance will also continue to rise.
In order to meet the need, HIM Food Bank will embark on a $3 million capital campaign to build a new HIM Community Food Club.
This new facility will not only allow us to provide food to even more deserving people, it will change the way people receive it. Members will be able to choose their own groceries in a welcoming, dignified space that feels more like a small neighborhood market than a food pantry.
