By: Peter Hightower, Assistant Media Relations Specialist
He really called it “Liquid Gold”. Eric Cooper, the President and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank was gathered with a small group of local representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in a back corner of his 210,000 square foot warehouse west of Downtown San Antonio. Bishop Bruce Baillio, who presides over the San Pedro Ward in the San Antonio North Stake of the Church, knew that the donation was significant, after all, 24 pallets of peanut butter filled up an entire tractor-trailer, what he perhaps didn’t realize was how valuable the donation was in reality.
“Peanut butter spreads a long way” Cooper continued (cheesy puns seemed to come naturally for the young-ish CEO), “it is actually our number one needed product and one of the most expensive items in our inventory.” He
went on to explain the unique value of peanut butter as a shelf-stable, high protein product that is easy to store and distribute. Children are the primary consumer of peanut butter and it is an ideal staple for preparing a quick, easy, non-cooked meal without a parent’s involvement. During the hot summer months, when many kids are home alone, an older brother or sister can easily slap together a few sandwiches for their younger siblings to hold them over until dinner.
“If we didn’t use a rationing system through case-limits in our ordering software, a shipment like this would be gone in about 17 minutes”, Cooper said. Because of the high demand for peanut butter, most food pantries have to supplement the small amounts they receive from the Food Bank through direct donations or retail purchases, which can become very expensive for organizations with small operating budgets. More often, they simply do without until it becomes available again in the system.
Motioning the group towards some of the glaringly empty three-story shelves, he explained how the Summer months are the most challenging. “Food budgets really get stretched when the weather heats up. Families have to spend more on childcare and utilities and that inevitably cuts into their grocery budget, so more people rely on community pantries to supplement their food supply.” All of this puts more pressure on the Food Bank, whose inventory drops to the lowest levels of the year in July and August. “We’re at 3 ½ million pounds of inventory right now which is low but not quite crisis-level yet.” By contrast, he claimed they were at 9 million pounds of inventory last Fall when donations surged following hurricane Harvey.
Through their 550 partner agencies, the Food Bank serves about 58,000 clients every week. Even though they operate four kitchens that provide direct-to-client service, most of their inventory is distributed through their vast network of partner agencies. One such agency is the Catholic Charities on West Cesar Chavez Blvd, part of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. When making this particular donation, LDS Church leaders requested that ten of the twenty-four pallets of peanut butter be reserved especially for the Catholic food pantry. Since the Food Bank happily provides valuable warehousing and storage services, this allows the charity to order smaller quantities as needed without overwhelming their small operation. They can then place full weekly orders complete with bread, jelly, beans, produce and whichever other staples are available on a given week.
Bishop Baillio explained how their efforts to build relationships with non-
profits run by other denominations is helping them extend their humanitarian efforts further than ever before. “The need in our community is so great that there’s no way we can possibly reach everyone. By funneling the Church’s resources through exceptional and well-established organizations like the San Antonio Food Bank and Catholic Charities, I feel like we can have the maximum impact for good in the areas where it is needed the most.”
Cooper closed the impromptu meeting by thanking the Church leaders and assured them that their donation was appreciated and needed. “We handle over $140 Million worth of food every year and we take our stewardship incredibly serious. We simply could not do what we do without the generosity of all our partners. I can’t thank you enough.”