The North Texas Food Bank partner pantry in Carrollton offers a robust market plus a host of wraparound services.

^{Metrocrest Services’ pantry, photo courtesy Metrocrest Services}

While Flor fills a grocery bag with fresh apples on a recent morning at Metrocrest Services, her 2-year-old daughter stays occupied navigating a mini-shopping cart of her own around the produce bins.

“We love the vegetables and fruit,” says Flor, who shops alongside her daughter and two sons, ages 14 and 10. “Groceries are so expensive, especially produce.”

With the cost of food, rent and other necessities on the rise over the last few years, Flor says her husband’s construction wages simply don’t cover everything they need each month. Thankfully, a friend told her about Metrocrest Services, a North Texas Food Bank agency partner, and she has since been able to shop twice a month for fresh produce at its food pantry.

Flor’s family is among the around 1,200 who visit Metrocrest Services’ pantry each month, says Casen McMahan, director of nutrition services. The nonprofit moved into a new, 48,000-square-foot facility a year ago this summer and Casen says the additional space allowed for them to transition away from the drive-through pantry model they adopted during the pandemic in favor of a client choice-style grocery store that allows neighbors to select the foods they know they’ll use.

The result, he added, is that families take home up to 40% less food than when they were receiving boxes of pre-packed groceries in their trunk. About 90% of the food in their market comes from the North Texas Food Bank, and allowing for neighbor choice has helped them to order only what they know clients will select and use (often a lot of produce).

“With everything going up in price, it’s just really hard to budget and unfortunately, I think nutritious food is one of the first things to go,” Casen says. “We see a lot of seniors on fixed incomes but a lot of families also. And it’s not uncommon for someone to come in because of a single crisis—a car wreck or medical issue.”

Along with its pantry, which is open to eligible families in Carrollton, Addison, Farmers Branch, Coppell and the 75287 zip code in Denton County, Metrocrest serves as a pick-up site for senior (Commodity Supplemental Food Program) food boxes and it also offers a myriad of wraparound services meant to help neighbors move from crisis to stability. Behind the facility, they’ve also developed a teaching garden that produces some produce for neighbors.

“The pantry really is that starting point for people and our ultimate goal is to give them the tools and the resources they need to where they no longer need the support of the pantry,” says Caitlin Hardegree, marketing and communications director.

Volunteers and staff work to build relationships with neighbors who access the pantry or Metrocrest’s rental/utility assistance program so that they can connect them with other on-site services that might benefit them—everything from financial literacy courses to workforce coaching to a computer lab where neighbors can build a resume or complete an online job interview.

The new facility also has an office for NTFB, which offers assistance to neighbors applying for SNAP, and Metrocare, which provides mental health care.

Like NTFB, Caitlin says they’re dependent on volunteers to keep the pantry running and they’re fortunate to receive donations to supplement what neighbors need, including toiletries. By August 26, National Toilet Paper Day, they’re hoping to collect 70,000 rolls of toilet paper, which is what they distribute to neighbors every six months. Find out how to give here.

Metrocrest Services is one of the around 500 organizations that are part of NTFB’s Agency Network. They help ensure neighbors have access to the nutritious food they need in the communities where they work and live.