Gatesville Care Center Braces for Surge Ahead of Food Drive
Gatesville Care Center volunteers are ramping up preparations for the Nov. 21 Food for Families drive as rising inflation and recent changes to SNAP increase demand for emergency food assistance. The center, which serves 45–50 families daily and depends heavily on Food for Families donations, is calling on local volunteers and donors to help meet a likely surge in need.
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Volunteers at the Gatesville Care Center in Coryell County are intensifying preparations ahead of Nov. 21, the date for Food for Families—the state’s largest one-day food drive—after staff and volunteers reported signs of growing need linked to inflationary pressures and recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The center currently serves between 45 and 50 families each day and relies significantly on the donations collected during the annual drive to replenish shelves for months to come.
The looming one-day drive has particular importance this year because food prices remain elevated compared with pre-pandemic levels, a factor that typically increases demand for charitable food assistance. At the same time, administrative and policy shifts affecting SNAP have complicated access to benefits for some households, increasing reliance on local pantries and community aid. For Gatesville Care Center, those twin forces mean the Nov. 21 collection could determine how well the center can meet increased need in the short term.
Gatesville High School’s PALS students have been a regular volunteer presence at the care center, stepping up in the weeks before the drive to help with sorting, packing and outreach. Local volunteers and the center’s staff say those contributions are central to day-to-day operations: donations from Food for Families replenish emergency stocks and help smooth supply through months when donations are lower.
The center’s day-to-day caseload of 45–50 families provides a concrete snapshot of local food insecurity pressures. Community-backed events such as Food for Families operate as a vital backstop for many households that fall between gaps in public programs and private income. For small rural providers in Coryell County, the one-day drive functions as a seasonal liquidity event—one large influx of donated goods that helps sustain distribution through leaner periods.
The economic context is important for residents to understand. Persistently higher grocery costs reduce household purchasing power, shifting budgets away from nonessential spending and toward basic needs. Changes to SNAP that alter eligibility, benefit levels or the administrative burden of maintaining benefits can push more families toward charitable food assistance, increasing operational strain on small pantries.
For Gatesville, the Nov. 21 drive is more than a charity event: it is an economic hedge for vulnerable households and a community effort to offset broader market and policy pressures. The care center’s dependence on the Food for Families campaign underlines the need for sustained local support—both in volunteer hours and donated items—if the community is to avoid gaps in food access in the months ahead.
