Austin News

When the Allandale Neighborhood Association (ANA) got wind that the Central Texas Food Bank was low on reserves, the group decided to do something about it.

“We knew there was a problem with the food banks being maxed out right now in terms of demand,” ANA member Allison Thompson told the Austin News. “Our understanding was that the Central Texas Food Bank was currently meeting demand, but it was tight.”

In addition to raising 2,626 pounds of food, the association also raised $2,252 in cash. Both the food and cash collected were donated to the Central Texas Food Bank.

The first Allandale Central Austin Food Drive was only mildly impacted by COVID-19, according to Thompson, a member of the Allandale Neighborhood Association events subcommittee.

“We tried to make it COVID-19-friendly where everybody could wear masks and just drive through contactless, pop open the trunk and we take the food and throw it in the truck,” Thompson said. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) had reported 1.3 million coronavirus cases and 23,565 fatalities statewide as of Dec. 18.

“Not everyone came in that contactless fashion,” Thompson said. “Some people walked. There were some people who came with their family and brought a red wagon full of food, which was super cute. Most people were masked and tried to make it social-distance safe.” 

Social media has proved to be a key factor in the ANA’s success.

“We used Facebook to reach out to our neighborhood and we have connections at surrounding neighborhood associations like Brentwood and Crestview, and they pushed it to their channels,” Thompson said.

The association partnered with Apple Moving for some of the event's heavy lifting.

“Apple Moving basically took care of all of it for us,” Thompson said. “They brought the truck. They staffed it with volunteers, which was mostly their family and neighbors. They also facilitated weighing the truck before and after the donations and dropping the donations off at the Central Texas Food Bank for us.”

Next year, Thompson hopes the Allandale Neighborhood Association will expand the drive to include other recipients.

“The whole event would just be drive-through, where you would stop and donate,” she said. “I don't know what the organizations would be that we would work with, but we could have one stop that's Coats for Kids and another stop that’s Toys for Tots.”