Bastrop County Takes Care of its Own

The Good Neighbors Campaign is a county-wide effort to serve the community now and into the future. For over 37 years, the BCEFP has served our neighbors through the generosity of good neighbors like you. And together, we've exceeded expectations, continually growing to serve better, all from the facilities, of which the oldest building is over 100 years old.

However, as our aging structures decline, the need for our services is vastly increasing. Compounding the facility challenges is the lack of adequate storage and the spread-out nature of the facilities on our campus. All of these challenges and inefficiencies hamper our ability to serve the neighbors who rely on us most.

We are building with the future in mind.

This new 9.2 thousand square foot facility will allow us to house 1 million pounds of food! The new warehouse and walk-in freezer and refrigerator will not only give more space for our Food Pantry but will allow us to distribute extra food to our food pantry partners throughout the county. This extra food will allow us to meet the growing needs of our community, which has been on the rise since 2020.

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Expanded Partnerships

The Food Pantry will provide nutrition and education classes through partnerships with local banks, Methodist Wesley Nurses, Area Agency on Aging (AAA), Bastrop Long Term Recovery, Bastrop County Cares, and the Bastrop extension office. These community partners will offer classes that address the root causes of poverty and health disparities by helping clients to increase their income, and budget better, manage their diabetes or high blood pressure, and job-seeking assistance like building resumes and interview preparation. This new facility will enhance partnerships with local non-profits that need space to meet with our neighbors in need. It will also allow the Food Pantry to share more food with the smaller food pantries in the county that need our support. This will enhance food access for the entire county.

Nutrition & Financial Education & Wellness

The remodel of the Fayette St. building will transition the current inventory space into a flex space that will house a computer lab and a small commercial kitchen. The Food Pantry staff and community partners will use the commercial kitchen for cooking and nutrition demonstrations and other health and wellness-related workshops. This is especially beneficial for the Food Pantry’s senior program participants, who benefit from nutrition-based options to manage their hypertension and diabetes. The space will also include a computer lab for our community partners to host workshops on topics like job readiness, resume and job interview prep, budgeting and financial literacy, and how to avoid scams.

Increased Storage & Streamlines Inventory

The new inventory space would include walk-in freezers and refrigerators, and dry storage as well as a large sorting room for donations to come through. On top of being a more efficient system, there will be double the space for food storage and sorting. By increasing the size of the space for the inventory the Food Pantry will be able to collect and store food to be a food hub for local food pantries that need our support.

Teaching Garden

The space will include an outdoor teaching garden where the Food Pantry will grow herbs and vegetables and provide opportunities for education about how to make your own home garden in Central Texas.