The Wesley Community Center Pantry has been a long-time Partner Food Pantry of the Coastal Bend Food Bank, serving the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors as a citywide pantry in Corpus Christi.
Felicia Tanner has worked with Wesley Community Center for the last five years. After working for 30 years in the retail business, she felt a need to come back home and do more philanthropic work in her community. She found her calling at Wesley Community Center, where she began working with the grant-funded Veterans Program and other administrative duties until May 2021, when she transitioned to Pantry Director of the Wesley Community Center Pantry. Over the last year, more and more people have turned to area food pantries for assistance for the first time. Clients seeking assistance vary from individuals and families living on a limited income to recently unemployed and homeless clients. “I love helping people; we’ve become counselors and not to the fact that we can do anything, but we are just here to listen to the people we serve,” says Felicia.
The covid-19 pandemic hit many families economically, and over the last year and a half, the Wesley Community Center Pantry has seen a significant increase in the number of families they serve daily. Before the pandemic, they averaged 30 to 40 families a day, and today their numbers have tripled. As an enabling agency, Felicia and her team of seven receive perishable food from area retail donors twice a week. Each week they receive an average of 800lbs of assorted frozen and refrigerated food, fresh produce, and assorted bread. Once received, the product is inspected, sorted, bagged, and distributed to clients.
The partnership CBFB has with Wesley Community Center, and other partner agency food pantries like it are vital in helping us fight hunger in the Coastal Bend. When you support the Coastal Bend Food Bank, you are helping to support partner food pantries like Wesley Community Center across our eleven-county service area. CBFB is grateful for the partnership and dedication from our partner agencies, who work tirelessly to help us fight hunger in the Coastal Bend; together, we are making an impact and delivering hope!
