2024 was unquestionably BFA’s busiest year ever. For those of us who had turntables back in the day, perhaps I sound like a broken record. The truth is, we’re on a three-year run of being “busier than ever.”
We could not keep pace with this continual busyness if not for the workings of a divinely inspired team of volunteers and their tireless efforts.
Thanks be to God, for: 1) these just-mentioned compassionate and committed volunteers coming from Austin City Lutheran churches and the Travis Heights neighborhood; 2) generous donors who continue to supply BFA with in-kind donations of food and diapers, and financial contributions; and, 3) partner and host Faith Presbyterian Church and the Central Texas Food Bank, which supplies BFA and more than 300 other food pantries in Central Texas with the majority of food that we distribute to individuals and families in need.
We served more than 3,225 unique individuals in 2024. Many of these came to BFA more than once over the course of the year, as they are permitted to come once a month. The average family size for households served is about four. The “unique individuals” figures can be multiplied by four to get an overall number of the people served (at least once, usually more than once, in a year). For 2024, this works out to 12,900. That’s a large amount of people. These numbers take on greater significance when put into historical perspective.
- In 2019 – BFA served 718 unique individuals / 2,872 overall
- In 2020 – BFA served 1,109 / 4,436 (the first year of Covid – at that time, our busiest year ever)
- In 2021 – BFA served 1,055 / 4,220 (the second year of Covid with government subsidies readily available)
- In 2022 – BFA served 1,462 / 5,848 (subsidies expiring)
- In 2023 – BFA served 2,389 / 9,556
- In 2024 – BFA served 3,225 / 12,900
We are three to four times busier now than we were in 2019. That’s an incredible increase in scope, operation, and output for BFA. We’re proud of how we’ve been able to adapt, pivot, and expand to serve three to four times the number of people than we did previously. That’s great news.
Bad news, however, taints the good news: food scarcity and hunger are on the rise Austin, Texas. More and more people are not able to afford rent, bills, gas and food on a monthly basis without assistance.
We’re grateful to be available to our neighbors who are in need of assistance. It’s a hard reality to see, however, the needs as great as they are. Our food line sometimes spills out into Faith Presbyterian’s back parking lot, on the opposite end of the property from where BFA distributes food. Yes, Austin has grown. Yes, Austin is a common landing spot for asylum seekers and refugees from Afghanistan, Venezuela, and other areas. And, yes, Austin rents have only recently levelled out after steady increases since Covid-era moratoria on evictions elapsed. We see the cumulative effects just about every Monday at Bread For All: more than a hundred in line when the distribution begins at 5pm, with 25-30 percent of these being first-time visitors.
All four gospel writers share the story of Jesus feeding 5,000, this number not including women and children. Jesus’s popularity with common folks was off the charts. For better or worse, they had followed him into a remote area where food was scarce. His disciples told Jesus to send the people away so they could find food and shelter. Jesus retorted telling his disciples to feed them. The disciples, the gospel writers tell us, were stunned at Jesus’s request. A few of them probably scoffed and said a thing or two behind his back.
Just then a young boy shared two fish and five loaves. Jesus lifted them toward the sky, invoking a divine blessing. Multiplication happened – this miracle is implied by the four gospel writers in their crafting of the tale. And, eventually, everyone ate their fill with a dozen baskets of food leftover. What’s often missed in the reading and reviewing of this event is that – most likely – those in the crowds, just as did the boy, enhanced the multiplication of the loaves and fish by sharing what they had brought in their own belongings. As we know, humans sharing one with another is sometimes a miraculous event.
I was recently asked to contribute to an Austin American-Statesman article, a compilation of thoughts from faith leaders as 2025 dawns. I wrote: As director of Austin City Lutherans, an organization that runs a busy food pantry and a weekly ministry supplying beds, furniture and household items for people exiting homelessness, I see firsthand how sharing takes some of the rough edges off the economic and social inequalities that threaten our overall communal well-being. My hope for 2025 – even as inequality’s stock continues to rise – is that the redistribution of food and other basic necessities becomes less stigmatized. The “free market system,” as it is today, is not supplying for everyone’s needs.
We wish we weren’t as busy as we’ve been for three years running. We don’t mind the work, but it’s burdensome that while the stock market is on a continual ride higher, and more and more multi-millionaires and billionaires are produced within our nation – at the very same time, more women, children and common workers struggle to make ends meet in our city.
Let’s continue to vote and advocate for a more equitable society, and share what God has given us for the betterment and well-being of all.
– Pastor Tim Anderson, Director of ACL