Roderick Miles Jr., the Tarrant County Commissioner of Precinct One, speaks on the dias during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
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Tarrant County will be donating $200,000 to food banks across the county to aid families in need during the government shutdown.
Of the sum, half will go to the Tarrant Area Food Bank. The other $100,000 was equally divided between the five members of the Housing Finance Corporation: County Commissioners Roderick Miles, Alisa Simmons, Matt Krause, Manny Ramirez and County Judge Tim O’Hare.
Miles came up with the idea to grant money to the food banks after Tarrant Area Food Bank president Julie Buckner expressed the challenges the organization was facing while the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were partially suspended due to the shutdown.
When the government shut down on Oct. 1, the food bank doubled its operations to provide enough provisions to food pantries trying to meet the extra need the SNAP suspension created.
“For me, it’s important to make sure that people have what they need,” Miles said. “If our safety net resources are being taxed and they’re feeling pressure, then it’s important for local government to step in and to help remove some of that stress.”
Because the federal government is showing signs of reopening, Krause and Ramirez wondered how that would affect the donation’s impact on families.
Miles said the Tarrant Area Food Bank will be using the money solely for emergency food purchases and will be able to serve 500,000 meals to residents in need.
The motion to give money to food banks was unanimously approved by the five-member committee. The members did not say how they would divide up their allotted $20,000 or what organizations they would give the money to.
“It’s important to note for the community that we got it right on this one,” Miles said, “We’re putting the people first, and all of us worked together. It wasn’t party-related. We did what was in the best interest of our residents, and it was a beautiful thing for us to all come together and work together. Hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come.”
Rachel Royster
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