Community answering call for Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes
Nathan Hendrix/The Highlander
Volunteer Barbara King (left) serves up pizza, pretzels and juice to the children at the Boys and Girls Club Highland Lakes in Marble Falls on Friday, Jan. 18.
By Nathan Hendrix
Staff Writer
In the Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes' time of need, the community of Marble Falls stepped up to the plate and put food on it, but there is work that still needs to be done.
The Club is stuck in limbo waiting for another food service provider to be contracted after the previous provider ended the contract at the beginning of the year. Currently, the Club is working with the Texas Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs to provide the Texas Department of Agriculture with all of the appropriate paperwork to find a new provider.
However, the paperwork wasn't submitted until early last week, according to The Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes Executive Director Bill Drake. He said the TDA has 14 business days to process the paperwork and could kick it back for errors, which would reset the process.
Drake said he expects a provider to be selected by spring break, but they still have to provide food for approximately 350 kids per day at five locations – Marble Falls, Granite Shoals, Kingsland and two sites in Burnet.
That's where the community has answered the call.
“The response of the community has been overwhelming,” Drake said. “It has taken the stress off of us. I can't imagine what it would be like without them.”
The Club has received food and money donations from several private donors, including Paul and Barbara King. The Kings are frequent volunteers at the Club and, on Friday, they bought pizza for all of the children at the Marble Falls Unit.
The Kings received the John and Barbara Racz Excellence in Service Award from the Club last year and have continued to give their time and money to the children.
The local Whataburger franchise has agreed to provide food every Wednesday through February, according to Marble Falls Unit Director Victoria Rucker, and the local Chili's donated enough pasta to feed all the children for a day. The Club also received an anonymous donation of groceries last week.
The Marble Falls Noon Club donated $3,000 to the Club, and Drake said all cash donations are earmarked strictly for food.
He said if the Club is frugal, they can provide meals at just over a dollar per child, but with 350 children, $3,000 only lasts for approximately nine days of meals.
The Club isn't just waiting around for donations, however. Drake said he is in negotiations with Marble Falls Indepedent School District for food service, and he is meeting with the Burnet County Hunger Alliance to make his case for the Club.
The Hunger Alliance is a volunteer group of food pantries, churches, school administrators, elected officials, area leaders and active citizens who have committed to "end hunger in Burnet County." BCHA helps coordinate and direct people to existing resources and find gaps in service with the goal being three healthy meals daily to anyone in Burnet County who needs them, according to their website.
Drake said even if the service provider issue is resolved prior to spring break, all donations will retain the earmark for food and will not be spent on anything other than food for the children.
“I want to say thank you to the community for their compassion,” he said. “The response has been substantial, but food goes quick. Any parent would know what it would be like to feed 350 kids a day.”
He said anyone interested in helping can donate money or non-perishable food items to the Marble Falls Unit at 1701 Broadway Street, the Burnet Unit at 704 Northington Street or the Kingsland Unit at 3435 RR 1431 West.
