SAN ANTONIO -- Texas ranks third in the U.S. for the highest number of people who go hungry or can't afford food. The San Antonio Food Bank and local charities are working feverishly to help those families in need.
"For us in Texas one in five adults in the last year had a periodic episode where they didn't know where they were going to get their next meal. Or, perhaps they were skipping meals," said Michael Guerra of the San Antonio Food Bank.
A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report says that 18.5 percent of Texans could not afford food at some point in the past two years, forcing some families to have to choose between basic necessities.
Evita Mendiola of Haven for Hope said, "We see people choosing every day having to pay the rent and having to pay for groceries for their family. It’s a choice of two basic necessities: shelter and food."
Haven for Hope says when people can’t afford food most likely rent is hard to come by as well.
Right now Haven for Hope is at capacity. They are feeding 45 kids and about 800 people a day on their campus, serving three meals a day every day.
The San Antonio Food Bank, who supplies many charities in the San Antonio metro area has to deal with the large numbers as well.
"We're having to double the size of our big cupboard like this warehouse, and double the size of our refrigerators and freezers because we went from feeding 25,000 people a week to 58,000 people a week,” said Guerra.
