Families living in 76104 can get a Christmas meal package Monday. Here are the details
The Tarrant Area Food Bank will host a Christmas meal distribution on Monday for residents who live in Fort Worth’s 76104 ZIP code, an effort that was sparked in part by a Fort Worth Star-Telegram series on health disparities.
Meals will be given out at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 1063 E. Rosedale St., from 9 to 11 a.m.
The group has put together about 3,000 H-E-B Feast of Sharing meals. Each family will receive four completed holiday meals that are intended to feed a family of four. The food bank is augmenting that with extra produce and dry goods, which were given by donors, the USDA and the Texas Department of Agriculture, said food bank President and Chief Executive Officer Julie Butner.
This is the first distribution of its kind by the Tarrant Area Food Bank in 76104 and likely not the last.
“We will be working with Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in an ongoing effort to support the families in 76104,” Butner said on Wednesday. “We’re really excited and looking for a lot of different ways to support 76104.”
The food bank partnered with TEAM 76104. The team is a group of pastors who came together to serve 76104 after they read the Star-Telegram series “Life & Death in 76104” that was published in September.
The series chronicled life in three neighborhoods south of downtown Fort Worth — Historic Southside, Morningside and Hillside. The series was sparked by a 2019 UT Southwestern study that found residents of the 76104 ZIP code have the lowest life expectancy rate in the state.
On average, people who live in the 76104 ZIP code won’t live to see their 67th birthday and will die 12 years younger than the national average, according to the study. Women in 76104 live on average to be 70 while men live to be 63.7.
Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death there, and the majority of early deaths were east of Interstate 35W, according to deaths the newspaper analyzed that were investigated by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.
Residents described a lack of access to health care and healthy foods driven by a lack of transportation, insurance and awareness of programs available to help. The area is home to 11 corner stores that pre-packaged foods high in calories and sugar but low in nutrition.
“The 76104 has always been on our radar as a community in need, but I will tell you that the articles did provide the impetus for getting us involved in TEAM 76104,” Butner said. “I reached out to Catholic Charities after I read the articles and asked, ‘What else can we do?’ We’re just trying to listen and be part of the solution.”
TEAM 76104 includes Broadway Baptist Church, Baker Chapel, Tarrant Churches Together, New Mount Rose and First Presbyterian’s Community Crossroads ministry. It’s headed up by Jay Semple, manager of disaster response for Catholic Charities.
Since the series published, the United Way of Fort Worth announced they will coordinate and fund resources to increase safety, education, quality housing, employment and physical and mental health for the residents in that area.
The Near Southside ZipZone also announced it will extend its transportation services deeper into the three neighborhoods in 76104. The new area goes south of East Hattie Street to East Berry Street, with the eastern boundary at South Riverside Drive and the western boundary at Eighth Avenue. The larger area includes a Fiesta grocery store, Walmart Neighborhood Market and additional coverage for residents to reach medical facilities for $3 each way.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
