Eighty vendors who spent the past three and a half weeks at the State Fair of Texas are now donating unused food to non-profits in Dallas. They are donating thousands of pounds of fruits, vegetables, milk and other perishable food to nine organizations who then pass along the fresh food to people who may not be able to afford it on their own.
"The Fair just ended last night at 10 o'clock," State Fair of Texas' Karissa Condoianis said. "We're all backup and awake to collect this food. The vendors, they are all small business owners. Most of them are from Texas, so they need to pack up their booths and move on, so we set this up first thing the next morning. They all come together in order to help get this food quickly into the community."
"This is actually my favorite day of the State Fair," said Christi Erpillo, who has been running Fernie's Funnel Cakes since Fernie Winter died two years ago. "They're getting nourishing food. They're getting fun food. It's such a good feeling to know it's not going to go to waste. Somebody is going to have a meal because of what we have done collectively to provide for the community that provides for us."
Erpillo is donating milk, rice and beans but also, "unfried cherry pie and unfried grilled cheese."
"These are things they need to actually make a meal out of," she said. "They say it's a food desert over here. Now, they've got lettuce, they've got tomatoes, they've got onions, they've got cheese. They have actual food."
The State Fair of Texas' Condoianis says food would be delivered Monday, and some non-profits nearby would start serving it or distributing it in time for dinner.
"South Dallas and Fair Park are known by the USDA as a food desert," she said. "If there's a way the State Fair can assist with food security, we want to do it."
In addition to the "State Fair Cares" food drive, Condoianis said the Big Tex Urban Farms Initiative has been growing and has now donated more than one million servings of fresh produce and will soon reach 1.5 million servings donated.
"When you come out to the Fair and celebrate all things Texan, you're helping support all the community initiatives we strive to give back to every single year," Condoianis says.
More information about Big Tex Urban Farms is available at https://bigtex.com/supporting-texans/big-tex-urban-farms/.
A complete list of organizations receiving food donations:
Cornerstone Community Kitchen
Incarnation House
Inspired Vision Community Center
Jubilee Park Community Center
St. Paul United Methodist Church
TR Hoover CDC
The Well Recovery Center
The State Fair of Texas said those organizations, "have the capacity to use this food and distribute it quickly to children, adults, and seniors or other organizations in the South Dallas/Fair Park area."
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