Lawton Food Bank Director: 1 in 5 Comanche County Residents Faces Food Insecurity

Food insecurity isn’t a faraway problem. In Comanche County, 19.2% of residents struggle to find their next meal, compared to 14.1% nationally. That’s nearly one in five of your neighbors, and Lawton Food Bank Executive Director Alex Minter McCann says ZIP Code 73505 carries the highest need in the city. McCann shared those numbers with the Greater Lawton Rotary Club and outlined the five programs her team uses to fight hunger across southwest Oklahoma.

Those programs include TEFAP, which lets anyone in Lawton complete a short application to receive food, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which serves 276 seniors at the Benjamin O. Davis Highrise. The food bank also partners with the Salvation Army, United Way of Southwest Oklahoma, and Work Ready Lawton. In July alone, the organization brought in 48,000 pounds of produce and distributed it across 13 counties. Pop-in Produce runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month, with no income verification and no name required.

McCann said she has the best job in Lawton, because she gets to tell people every day that they are going to eat a meal. The Lawton Food Bank is the only Food Resource Center in Comanche County and every county that touches it, making it a critical resource for both the city and surrounding rural communities. Whether you need assistance or want to volunteer or donate, there’s a place for you here. So we want to know: have you ever volunteered at or used a local food bank? Tell us your story.