COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
PlainsCapital Bank Helps to Provide Relief Local food bank gets a helping hand during COVID-19 pandemic By: HANNAH ALLTON
T
here are 22 food banks in Texas. Most of them could likely tell you stories of how 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted them. Coastal Bend Food Bank in Corpus Christi is one of them.
“We were two weeks from running out of food at the beginning of COVID,” said Bea Hanson, Executive Director of Coastal Bend Food Bank. “People lost their jobs and were coming to us. Food was going out of the warehouse as fast as it was coming in.”
see if they were interested in applying for a PPP loan,” said Frank Hastings, Coastal Bend Region Chairman of PlainsCapital Bank, and the former Coastal Bend Food Bank board president.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides Coastal Bend Food Bank forgivable loans to small busidistributes millions of pounds nesses to help cover up to of food each year to food 24 weeks of payroll costs and pantries across 11 counties. In qualifying non-payroll exreturn, those pantries serve penses. Hastings was able to the people who need food guide the food bank through most. That need multiplied the application process. during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as the food bank “It’s one of those surprising was competing with grocery miracles that happens in life stores to purchase food from when you least expect it,” manufacturers, funding was Hanson said. “It carried us drying up. With low supply through a difficult time when and high demand, times were we were struggling. There getting more difficult. was a great demand. We were able to meet the demand, “We saw at least a 30 percent serve the people, and survive.” increase of demand during the pandemic,” said Hanson. Coastal Bend Food Bank received $396,400 during the As funding continued to first round of PPP funding. dwindle, Hanson received That money helped the ora call from her friends at ganization pay its employees PlainsCapital Bank. for 11 weeks. It also gave their partnering agencies a break, “I hadn’t heard from the food financially. Agencies usually bank, so I reached out to pay 16 cents per pound for
most of their food. During May and June, Coastal Bend was able to waive this cost, giving the agencies more than 2.6 million pounds of food for people in need, at no charge. “Part of our culture has always been to give back to the communities we serve, and the food bank has certainly always been at the top of our list,” said Hastings. “Frank knew our needs and knew it would help us,” Hanson said. “He made sure we were recipients of this gift. He saved us in this crisis.” Thanks to PlainsCapital Bank, the food bank was able to pay its employees and distribute 13.3 million pounds of food in 2020.
For more information on how you can support the Coastal Bend Food Bank, visit https://coastalbendfoodbank.org.
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INSPIRE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE MAY 2021
