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'I'm starving' | Hundreds lined up for Central Texas Food Bank's drive-through distribution

Families drove by the Toney Burger Stadium with their trunks open so volunteers could give them the emergency food kits safely.

AUSTIN, Texas — With more families relying on food banks to help put food on the table, the Central Texas Food Bank distributed emergency food kits at the Toney Burger Stadium Thursday morning. 

The event was from 9 a.m. to noon and aimed to help around 2,000 families. 

The food distribution was orchestrated as a drive-through. When cars rolled up, volunteers placed packed boxes into the trunks of families' cars. Families received 28 pounds of shelf-stable food such as peanut butter, rice, canned tuna and canned fruit. The boxes also come with some hygiene products such as toothpaste.

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The first car arrived at the stadium around 4:30 a.m. The woman told KVUE that she and her husband are struggling financially and had to recently move out of their home and into a motel.

Other people are unemployed. Tamera Davidson said she lost her job to due health concerns from COVID-19. Davidson is also at high risk and her doctor told her she shouldn't go back to work.

“I'm starving,” Davidson said. “I haven't [eaten] in two days because usually we have kitchens that we can go to but you can't go to them no more right now.”

She and others are struggling to make it through this.

“She's unemployed and I'm only down to 20 hours so we're trying to make it,” said Guadalupe Garcia. 

The couple said they still have their house and car payments, but were there because they need to put food on the table.

In just a month's time, from February to March, the unemployment rate in the Austin metro jumped from 2.6% to 3.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On top of all of this, the Central Texas Food Bank is worried about running out of food, though they're trying to stay optimistic.

So for those who can help, you can donate to the Central Texas Food Bank online, so they can purchase more food for these families.

If you need more assistance finding food, you can call 211 or go to the Central Texas Food Bank's website.

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