First Friday Memo - August 2026

From the desk of Jayne Wright-Velez, Executive Director

The Food Bank of Central Louisiana‍ ‍

August 2026 / Issue 198

Food Bank Annual Impact Reports Now Available

At the end of our 2025-2026 fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), support from our friends helped to serve food-insecure neighbors more than 475,000 times. Across all food bank programs, 11,244,881 pounds of food were distributed in communities across the region. Want to see the details? Visit our website to learn more about the impact of all our programs in the eleven parishes served by the Food Bank of Central Louisiana. Our FY2025-26 Annual Impact Reports are also available on our website at fbcenla.org/impact.

Wrapping Up the Summer Food Service Program

As another summer comes to a close, we are grateful for the opportunity to help ensure children across our region had access to nutritious meals while school was out. During June and July, our Summer Food Service Program provided 129,700 meals at summer meal sites and grab-and-go non-congregate program sites.

Thank you to our partners who helped make this important work possible and kept children nourished throughout the summer: Anacoco First Baptist Church, Boys & Girls Club of Natchitoches, Church International, Flactor Baptist Church, Galilee Baptist Church, Love’s Lighthouse Ministries, Move Bunkie Forward, New Willow Baptist Church, Pitkin Substation, Rapides Parish Library, Sabine Parish Library, and Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office.

S L Gimbel Foundation Provides Food For Central Louisiana Neighbors

The Food Bank has been awarded a grant from the S L Gimbel Foundation, a component fund of the Inland Empire Community Foundation. The mission of the S L Gimbel Foundation is to enhance the quality of life for people and animals by providing effective support in the Founder’s specific fields of interest nationwide. The mission of IECF is to enhance the quality of life in the communities they serve through building permanent endowments, making prudent grants for charitable causes, being a catalyst to solve community concerns and strengthening nonprofit organizations. This grant will provide food for Central Louisiana families. We are so grateful to the S L Gimbel Foundation for ensuring that our neighbors have the food they need to thrive.

The BackPack Program Goes Back to School

As a new school year begins, many children in our community continue to face hunger when they leave the classroom on Fridays. Through our Backpack Program, students receive nutritious, kid-friendly food to help bridge the gap over weekends and school breaks. Donor support ensures that children can return to school nourished, focused, and ready to learn. A gift today can make a meaningful difference for a child who may otherwise go without.

The Good Food Project Supported by The Rapides Foundation

The Food Bank of Central Louisiana has been awarded a Healthy Eating, Active Living Program Grant from The Rapides Foundation.

In support of their mission to improve the health status of Central Louisiana, The Rapides Foundation funds projects and initiatives intended to improve the health of residents in the region. The HEAL Program supports community-driven, evidence-based strategies that help residents eat healthier and be more physically active. This three-year grant will help the food bank’s Good Food Project provide nutrition education to children. We are so thankful for The Rapides Foundation, and their dedication to the health of Central Louisiana.

CHRISTUS Fund Supports the Mobile Pantry Program

CHRISTUS Health has authorized a grant in the amount of $60,000 to support the Food Bank of Central Louisiana’s Mobile Pantry Program. The CHRISTUS Fund, the grant making arm of CHRISTUS Health, supports initiatives led by non-profit community agencies, collaboratives, or coalitions that improve the health and well-being of the community by addressing community needs. We appreciate the difference that CHRISTUS continues to make for our food-insecure neighbors.

Feeding America Launches SNAP Awareness Campaign

Feeding America has launched SNAP Supports—a nationwide effort to strengthen public understanding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and what it means for people across America.

The effort comes at a pivotal moment as states prepare to implement significant changes to SNAP, including a shift in program costs, making clear public understanding of the program more important than ever. SNAP is the nation’s largest federal nutrition program, providing a reliable source of support for millions of families working to put food on the table.

As rising costs and economic pressures are increasing demand for food assistance and states prepare for significant changes, programs like SNAP are more critical than ever. Feeding America is calling Congress to delay the SNAP cost shift to states for two years so states have the time they say they need to prepare for changes to the program, and families and communities can maintain access to the food they need to thrive. 

TC Energy Feeds Cenla Families

TC Energy has awarded a grant of $5,000 to the Food Bank of Central Louisiana to feed families across in the region.

TC Energy is North America’s leading energy infrastructure company, home to the only network that links Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. They create pathways to deliver abundant, secure and reliable energy to a world that increasingly depends on it. We are thankful for TC Energy’s commitment to being a good neighbor with ongoing support in the communities where they operate.