Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries

Agency extends help to those in need, as it did when founded 23 years ago

BY JEFF B. FLINN Managing Editor

It started 23 years ago in a garage by the El Chaparral Restaurant. Now, it sits on 10 acres of property on Cascade Caverns, its large barn-like structure housing a 40,000 square-foot warehouse and a dozen or so offices.

But regardless of its size and location, the Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries mission remains the same: Help others in their times of need.

In 2022, Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries (HCDBM) helped 70,000 people in eight counties while distributing 911,608 pounds of food.

'We know people are in need,”

“Bread team” volunteers at Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries of Boerne help prepare goods for Thanksgiving baskets the organization dispersed last week.

Courtesy photo said Debi Watson, HCDBM community partner outreach coordinator. “Food prices have gone up, rent is up, medical costs are high, and some people are just really struggling.”

Watson said people can come to their location on Cascade Caverns at Ranch Drive and pick up some food. No questions asked.

“There's no qualifying, no forms to fill out. They just have to come in and say, ‘We need help,’” Watson said.

She said the HCDBM staff will serve them with dignity and counsel and mentor them, build a relationship, to help them create a plan to get back on their feet.

“We are more than a handout, we are a ‘hand up.’ We are going to work with these families to come up with plans, on ‘how can we help get you out of this?’” she said.

Watson told of a call she took from a woman whose husband was out of work and filed for workman’s comp, but it had been a while since he last worked.

“She said they were eating out of the freezer, they had no money for food,” Watson said, “so we started working with them right away.”

The HCDBM staff is aided by a roster of volun

teers who come in, help sort the food, clothing, hygiene products and diapers that are essential to families.

“We just had 300 volunteers this past weekend, preparing for Thanksgiving,” she said. Estimates were for more than 700 of the food baskets to go out with Thanksgiving food items for families, single parents, and the elderly for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Part of reaching so many people comes with HCDBM’s outreach and community service partners. More than 120 agencies receive free food from the agency, including 59 in Kendall County.

“The other nonprofits we help in these eight counties, we serve them to help them offset the cost of food,” she said. That outreach allows those agencies to focus their vital funding on programs, materials and other essential resources.

“We consider ourselves a toolbox for churches, for families,” she said, “because we want to partner with all of our other nonprofits.”

HCDBM was founded in 2000 as a calling upon David and Agnes Hubbard. Today, Agnes sits as executive director and board vice president, helping to lead the organization that started so humbly more than two decades ago out of a simple garage.