Zavalla Food Pantry Feeds Residents in Rural Angelina County

Along Highway 69 south, sits the Zavalla Food Pantry, a small, but mighty organization made up of volunteers who donate their time every month to make sure their neighbors are well fed.

Originally founded in 2000 as the Grace Gospel Church Food Pantry, its storied history over the past two decades provides a testament to God’s faithfulness, according to Executive Director J.P. Hopkins. Each time he was met with a need – whether it be for a new storage building, refrigerator, box truck or an electric pallet jack – the funds would show up just in time, every time. The Zavalla Food Pantry serves more than 2,000 people each year with boxes full of nutritious food, mostly sourced from the East Texas Food Bank, but also from local donations. The Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation has supported the Zavalla Food Pantry for years by providing them gift cards to pick up necessary items from the Zavalla Brookshire Brothers store just a couple of miles down the road.

The need is great in this incredibly rural area of Angelina County, but Hopkins and his team are more than willing to find a way to meet that need. As he often says, “if it’s His will, it’s His bill,” relying on divine intervention, local donors like the Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation, and the help of numerous volunteers to ensure the pantry thrives.