By Joey McWilliams
DURANT – Families Feeding Families will soon have a new place for families to feed families.
Leticia Burkhalter and others broke ground Friday to officially start the process of a new building that will go up on property at 524 E. Florida in Durant.
Burkhalter, who has been running this benevolent operation since 2004, said this is something that has been in the works for about three years.
“Part of that was just finding the right spot,” Burkhalter said. “We’ve been on this side of town for so long, we can’t just go anywhere. And that was our goal – to stay over here. So we finally found land. We had a donor generously buy it and donate it.
“Then we had to struggle to find the architect. We found the architect and got the plans designed and approved by the city. The city has been great. And then they told us we can start.
“We’ve had a donation with the dirt work. Dr. Whittington has offered his services so we think we’re ready.”
According to Burkhalter, the timetable as to when the facility will be ready to go for the community varies as to whom you might talk. But she has her thoughts.
“People who have a lot more knowledge look at me like I’m crazy,” Burkhalter said. “Diane Dixon and Jody Nelson and I have decided that we need it done by Thanksgiving and we think that is seriously possible. We just have to get the community ready to help out and get some donations in and build.
“We’re going to go with a very simple metal building, so it should go up pretty fast.”
Having a new building from which to feed people – a true base for operations that is solely a Families Feeding Families facility – should increase the organization’s scope and reach. But this is an operation that hasn’t stopped, even through a pandemic.
“Once COVID hit, we started going door to door and we were delivering almost 10,000 meals a month. Numbers went up, donations dropped. But we still were able to keep feeding so that’s all that matters.
“Now we have gone back to (Keithley) park, so that it’s easy to be seen and we’re doing now three days a week and we’ll go back to five days as soon as the three days pickup. But we’re already doing 40-45 meals a day now, so we’ll add the other two days a week in probaby a couple of weeks.”
There aren’t any stipulations to receive a meal from Families Feeding Families. Burkhalter said they feed everybody.
“We have no qualifications. If we ask a question, we ask your name, and even that, it doesn’t really have to be a real name, it’s only for a count. There are no income requirements. There are no income questions.
“We have people that work their 9-to-5’s and they’re just struggling. We have people that are sick and don’t have the energy to cook. We have people who are living out of their cars or around the railroad tracks. And we do have people that once they know when I’m done for the day will message me to say, ‘Hey, I’m just getting off work. Can I get some food?’ And we do it.
“It’s the full gamut.”
Families Feeding Families is accepting donations for this project and more.
Burkhalter said there will be a GoFundMe soon and that all of the donations are going back into the community and to the service. There are no salaries or administrative costs.