The City of Fort Stockton assisted the West Texas Food Bank last week with volunteers from the Police Department, Sanitation Department, Water Department, Parks Department and Code Enforcement.

“I was really happy to see how many people showed up from the City of Fort Stockton,” EMS Director Lucia Mackintosh- Gilbert said.

“We usually have Pecos County EMS volunteers, but a lot of times they’ll get called out for medical emergencies and have to leave. The City of Fort Stockton has been our biggest group of volunteers to date and we’re thankful for all the time that they put in.”

When asked how she got involved with the West Texas Food Bank she said, “To be perfectly honest it was Amy Owens who first asked me if I wanted to help with food distribution. For one and a half years it’s been me and Amy with volunteers like Mrs. Baker, Carlos Gomez and his kids, a couple of employees from City Bank, Pecos County EMS and occasionally my husband and my kids.”

The West Texas Food Bank community outreach program takes place every second Thursday at the Rooney Park from 10 a.m. to noon. Mackintosh- Gilbert says the monthly event gets 200-300 cars every month.

“People will start lining up at 2 a.m. — no matter the weather,” she continued. “We do this come rain or shine, because people need these groceries. A lot of the food comes from HE- B. These resources are available; all people have to do is show up. We also have boxes specifically for senior citizens. If anyone would like to volunteer we could definitely use the help and we typically always set up at Rooney Park near the Large Community Hall. The City was a huge help this month and after talking with Efrain Acosta (Supervisor of the Sanitation Department), it sounds like the City would be interested in helping us out again in the near future.”