United Against Hunger in the Rio Grande Valley

The impact of food inflation in our community cannot be overstated. Local grocery prices have climbed dramatically on staple items like eggs, milk, fresh produce, and meat—foods that form the foundation of a healthy diet. For many residents, these increases aren't just statistics; they represent missed meals and nutritional compromises that affect their ability to work, learn, and thrive.

Our most vulnerable populations bear the heaviest burden of these rising costs. Fixed-income seniors must stretch their limited resources further each month. Working families find their food budgets depleted midway through the pay period. Single-parent households face impossible choices between adequate nutrition and other necessities like housing and utilities.

At United Way of Southern Cameron County, we recognize that addressing this crisis requires both immediate assistance and systemic approaches. Through funding our local partners and programs like Snack Pack, we are able to tackle food insecurity at multiple levels. We continue working to improve food availability through strategic partnerships, resource allocation, and community engagement.

The challenges of food affordability in southern Cameron County demand our collective attention and action. Every family deserves access to adequate, nutritious food—a fundamental need that forms the foundation for community wellbeing and stability. As food costs continue to rise, our commitment to ensuring no one goes hungry must rise accordingly.

Through faithful partners like you, we can enhance our outreach and programs to empower lasting change around food access and equity. There is power in community; thank you for helping us lift up others today as we drive towards a hunger-free tomorrow.

During the summer United Way of Southern Cameron County continued to fight against hunger. Together with community partners we provided meals to immigrants, worked to increase fresh produce at our homeless shelters and soup kitchen and brought together local pantries to best understand how our organization can better help local families.

Our community still sees hundreds of immigrants crossing our border with no more than the cloths on their backs and hope in their hearts for a better life. A hot meal, bag of snacks, food for their baby or even a fresh piece of fruit is greatly appreciated. At our homeless shelter and soup kitchen the selection of food often depends on what is available at the food bank. Adding fresh produce to the menu greatly improves the quality of food being served. 

Bringing the local pantries together to understand how we can help them is an important step to improving the local food system for our community's most vulnerable populations. Understanding the needs and gaps in services provides us with the opportunity to pivot as needed to meet emerging needs.

Hunger did not end in Cameron County over the summer, it continues to be an issue especially for our elderly and our immigrant population. We appreciate the continued support to alleviate hunger in our community.