If this is your first time reading about HCCM, you should know that we have many programs that help the people we serve navigate life more easily. A large part of what we do involves food. We offer a variety of onsite food services, from our full-service pantry to our curbside food pickups, and we do a great job of making food available to our clients. But something you probably didn't know is that we have a food program that reaches beyond Lacy Dr, beyond Leander, and even beyond Williamson County. I'm talking about our mobile distribution program, Fresh Food for All (FFFA).
FFFA is a food distribution program unique to HCCM. The idea originally came from the food bank's Fresh Food Friday program, but we took the core vision, expanded on it, and made it our own. So what is it exactly? We have nine distribution sites that we visit throughout the month. Each site has its own dedicated volunteers, who are always excited to help deliver our mission. The goal is threefold: to put fresh produce in homes to encourage healthier habits, to reach households that don't have easy access to fresh food, and to serve targeted areas where the need is greatest.
Multiple times a week, my team and I prepare for FFFA visits, starting with the order. We look for fresh produce and dry bagged items such as beans and rice, and we strive to have 10 to 20 items available to choose from at a time. Once the order is delivered, our loading crew carefully stocks the refrigerated truck, making sure every item is stowed securely and accessible to the FFFA Associate. When it's time to leave, our driver takes everything to its designated site, where the volunteers help unload and set up. We arrange a row of tables and let our guests walk down the line and select the items they'd like to take home. At the end of the line is a scale, so we can record the weight of each order for our records before sending guests on their way.
Once I lay it all out, you can see how much goes into this program before it reaches the hands of those who need it: the volunteers, the truck and cooler maintenance, the early morning deliveries. But it's all worth it, because we're making a huge difference in these pockets of our communities.
