In years past, the Forney Food Bank would typically serve about 50 families a week.

Until now.

The small space stocked with food, toiletries and clothing for those in need is located at 222 Industrial Drive.

These days, the food pantry’s manager, Natalie McAlanis, can barely keep up with the demand.

“I have been so busy. I’m probably working 40-60 hours a week,” she said. “I’m constantly getting phone calls: people needing assistance; people wanting to help by dropping off food.”

The Kaufman County community is home to a sizeable concentration of SNAP recipients in North Texas.

NBC 5 Investigates reviewed Texas DHHS ZIP code data related to SNAP beneficiaries.

Data shows Forney, population 38,000, has over 11,500 SNAP recipient residents.

Families are welcome on Wednesdays, where they receive a shopping cart (the size of the cart depends on the household) with shelf-stable food items, from canned foods to pastas and cereal.

The Forney Food Bank also provides families with perishable items, from meat to milk and frozen peaches.

The pantry receives shipments from partner agency, the North Texas Food Bank, as well as generous donors locally.

McAlanis showed NBC 5 freezers with turkeys, packages of chicken, pastries and baguettes.

Much of the stock will be gone by the end of the week, she says.

The number of visitors has been growing since last summer and even before the government shutdown, said McAlanis.

“We saw 94 families, 20 of them were new families just last week alone,” she said. “That was before SNAP benefits were taken away as of Saturday, so I’m assuming we’re going to have a massive influx of people this Wednesday.”

The pantry provides 331 grocery bags to food-insecure students in the school district, including 58 bags at a single elementary, said McAlanis.

The city and Kaufman County face challenges other growing communities don’t experience, she points out.

She calls this largely rural area a ‘resource desert’ that has grown in population without growing available services.

“It grew so quickly between 2020-24,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that came in and they needed help with rental payments, help with gas payments…”

Those seeking financial assistance start by calling 211, but often end up calling the Forney Food Bank.

“They’ll say, ‘Can you help pay my utility bill?’” she said. “I cannot help you with your utility bill, but I can refer you to people who might be able to help. It’s just my list is very small and those [organizations that do] keep running out of money because there’s so many people calling right now.”

 Transportation to the only non-mobile food pantry is also a challenge to get to for many.

McAlanis feels it is vital to provide their clients with pet food because animal dumping is pervasive in the region.

The food pantry is always in need of: toiletries, cereal, meats, and cans of tuna.

For now, McAlanis is asking the community to hold off on donating clothing.

“Right now, we’re talking about meat,” she said. “Meat has been really hard to get at a food pantry right now. Last year, I needed 200 turkeys. This year, I’m going to need 500 turkeys or more.”

 Non-perishable food items can be left in a bin located by the front door.

Anyone wishing to donate turkeys, meat or other perishable items is asked to call (972) 552-2011.

Hungry? In need of food?

If you’re hungry and need nutritious, free food, you can call 2-1-1 for the latest information on the SNAP program and find alternative food resources from area food banks, food pantries and other community resources.

If you need food and live in Bosque, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant or Wise counties, search the Tarrant Area Food Bank website for food pantries.

If you need food and live in Collin, Dallas, Delta, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, or Rockwall counties, search the North Texas Food Bank website for food pantries.

If you need food and live elsewhere in Texas, visit the Feeding Texas website to find your local food bank and food pantries.

SNAP benefits nationwide and in Texas