Food Pantry application denied

By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
editor@sbnewspaper.com

The July 16 meeting of the San Benito Commission saw multiple community-based organizations vying for grant funding and the approval to allocate funds to construct an outdoor fitness studio at a local park.

During the announcements section of the meeting, it was shared that Market Days would be occurring this Saturday from 5-9 p.m. This month’s theme is Rock ‘N USA. It was also announced that SBPD is hosting its annual “Ice Cream with a Cop” event on Friday, July 26, at Ice Monkey in San Benito.

Lifelong San Benito resident and president of the recently formed non-profit, Furry Friends RGV, Edith Tamez, addressed the city commission during the public comments portion of the meeting, requesting approval for her organization’s application for the Community Development Block Grant.

“In San Benito, citizens are forced to deal with the health issue of the stray pet population,” said Tamez. She further explained that Furry Friend’s RGV’s mission is to provide low-cost access to spay & neuter and other pet-health services as well as eliminate euthanasia at the San Benito Animal Shelter.

President of Friends of the San Benito Public Library, Forest Walker addressed the board next, questioning rumors as to why her organization’s application for a grant was denied, citing that the city complained that their application was not complete, to which she argued was incorrect.

“If it was incomplete, then I should have received a phone call. That would have been very nice,” said Walker. “We have children that depend on this library.”

Walker is also president/owner of the San Benito Food Pantry, and during her second public comment, she again questioned why the organization’s application was deemed “incomplete.” “I am upset a little because this is your community also,” said Walker. “This is a community food pantry that desperately needs funding to serve, at this point, 6,200 people a month.”

Walker said it costs the food pantry almost $50,000 to continue operations as is, but the pantry now has less than $1,000 in its bank account, after never receiving a single dollar from the City.

Following the public comments, the majority of the agenda items were unanimously voted to be handled in the two-hour long executive session.

It was decided that the city would not allocate $340,000 for the construction of two outdoor fitness court studios as part of the 2024 National Fitness Campaign. A hundred thousand dollars of that allocation would be provided for by grants. Instead, the board voted two construct just one of these outdoor fitness studios at Kennedy Park for an undisclosed dollar amount.