NTFB Joined 300 Food Bankers to Advocate for Hunger Relief Policies in Washington, D.C.

North Texas Food Bank and several agency partners attended Feeding America’s annual Fly-In to advocate and meet with lawmakers at the Capitol.

North Texas Food Bank staff and agency partners joined Feeding America’s largest Fly-In to date this month, advocating alongside nearly 300 hunger fighters from across the country to champion policies that ensure everyone can access nutritious food.

North Texas Food Bank Chief External Affairs Officer Annam Manthiram, Vice President of External Affairs Sarah Burns and Government Relations Officer Clarissa Clarke attended the trip, March 3-4. They were accompanied by NTFB agency partners Sara Kenefake, executive director of Good Samaritans of Garland; Kyle Taylor, CEO of Irving Cares; Tammy Johnson, executive director and founder of Empowering the Masses; and Casen McMahan and Jo Beth Collier, director of Nutrition Services and director of Community Engagement and Advocacy at Metrocrest Services.

“It was so interesting and inspiring,” said Sara. “Advocacy is a critical part of the work we do. At Good Samaritans of Garland, we see every day how programs like TEFAP and SNAP help bridge the gap for families facing food insecurity. Being able to bring the voices and experiences of the people we serve directly to policymakers was both an honor and a responsibility.”

Clarissa said the group advocated for two main priorities:

• Increasing The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) entitlement commodity funding by $500 million per year in any farm bill that advances. The additional support would enable the USDA to purchase more nutritious, U.S.-grown foods from farmers and producers for distribution through food banks to families facing hunger.
• Supporting the farm economy and ensuring families have access to nutritious food through $450 million in additional food purchase in any upcoming agricultural supplemental. These investments provide farmers with dependable markets for U.S.-grown products and move more healthy food to families by leveraging the scale and efficiency of food banks and pantries.

TEFAP food purchases dropped by about 25% nationwide from Fiscal Year 2025 to Fiscal Year 2026—and by 40% in Texas.

“As need rises, our network of food banks continues to show up for our communities, but meeting this challenge requires all of us,” Clarissa said. “We need more food to move from farms to people’s tables, and stronger support for the systems that make this work possible to ensure neighbors can thrive in our communities.”

Together, NTFB’s group met with staff from the offices of Congressman Keith Self, Congressman Pat Fallon, Congressman Lance Gooden, Congressman Jake Ellzey, Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, Congresswoman Julie Johnson, Congressman Marc Veasey, Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz.

Agency partners also had the chance to attend learning sessions on advocacy and Feeding America’s legislative priorities and to take a tour of the Capitol Building with a staff member from Congressman Keith Self’s office.

We’re grateful for a Feeding America grant that funded the travel of some of our agency partners to the fly-in.

Jo Beth, of Metrocrest, said along with advocating for the priorities, they wanted to share with legislators and their staff about the work they and other agency partners do to support neighbors in moving beyond food insecurity.

“They’re not just receiving SNAP or food, there are organizations out there like ours that are helping their constituents not need assistance anymore,” she said.

Sara agreed and said it was an empowering experience that will continue to impact the work she does. 

“I left with this new family,” she said, explaining that she enjoyed networking with other hunger fighters and NTFB agency partners. “It was an incredible time as an agency partner and as a representative of our neighbors.”