Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket serves community

WIMBERLEY — For more than 30 years, Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket has been committed to helping neighbors by providing food and encouragement.

The idea started back in 1986, when it was registered as a 501(c)(3) organization called Crisis Breadbasket. To help address food insecurity in the Wimberley community, the men of St. Stephen’s Church and St. Mary’s Men’s Club started preparing food baskets for economically disadvantaged individuals and households.

Since then, Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket has provided weekly food distributions and has operated strictly through volunteers and community donations. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization was providing food distributions to about 50 households each week and then, in 2022, the demand for services steadily grew. In 2023, 80 households have been served each week.

Individuals can visit the pantry during distribution hours and select from a variety of meats, dairy items, fresh produce, canned meats, vegetables, fruits, breakfast items and bread, based on what they need for the size of their household.

“It's evolved from just a standard kind of food basket to now they can come and actually make an order that fits what their needs are,” said board chair Joe Morris.

Through his strong faith and journey as a Christian, Morris has felt compelled to engage with and help members of his community, leading him to become a volunteer with Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket about five years ago.

“I've come to understand this more as something that's a community project or community activity in a sense because we have neighbors in need who are needing help. We have people who have resources that want to donate; we have people who have time to volunteer and each of us are participating in a way that lets us serve each other,” he explained. “We learn, and I learn, from these folks that are in need and benefit from our engagement … It really is something that makes the community better. There’s lots of different ways we intersect and engage with each other.”

Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket does not receive any governmental funding. Approximately 80-90% of the food that it is providing in the standard menu for individuals and families in need is purchased and about 10% of the food comes from donations, according to Morris.

Morris said that they understand that circumstances and situations in life can be challenging, so he hopes that being able to provide food to a household each week will alleviate that stress and burden.

“All you have to do is show up to one of our distributions and we will register you. We honor what people say to us. We have some folks that come from difficult times and difficult situations. Maybe they’re having a hard time making ends meet and they need tires for their car. Well, we can't provide tires, but they can come get food and that provides a little bit of space for them to kind of deal with the circumstances that they have. Almost 400 different households have come through this year — and that’s over 1,000 individuals in those households — 30% are children in there and about 9% are senior citizens,” Morris said. “It's a significant number of folks that are sometimes needing some help.”

Those who live in the Wimberley Valley area, or have a student who attends a school in Wimberley ISD, are eligible to receive food from the pantry. The pantry — located at 14092 Ranch Road 12 in Wimberley — is open for food distribution from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays and from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Thursdays.

Food donations are also welcome between 10 and 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The most needed donation items can be found on the organization’s “Top 15” list at bit.ly/46M27gs.

For more information about Wimberley Crisis Bread Basket, visit www.crisisbreadbasket.org, email [email protected] or call 512-847-5323.