Shiner Food Pantry receives grant

  • Pictured is Shiner Methodist Church Pastor and Shiner Food Pantry director, Darin Zumwalt and United Way of the Crossroads Executive Director, Bethany Castro.
    Pictured is Shiner Methodist Church Pastor and Shiner Food Pantry director, Darin Zumwalt and United Way of the Crossroads Executive Director, Bethany Castro.

    United Way of the Crossroads recently completed a rural grantmaking process for the first time. United Way of the Crossroads covers DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Lavaca, and Victoria counties. Typically, United Way funded partner agencies have been based in Victoria county and serve the surrounding rural areas. But, out of the eighteen local nonprofits who were given grants for 2024-2025, just two of those organizations have dedicated programming outside of Victoria County.  
    This year, the United Way of the Crossroads Board of Directors and executive staff decided to invest directly in their rural coverage areas by removing the costly “recent audit requirement” of our normal grantees and completing this focused grantmaking process for smaller, rural-based organizations.
    TDECU Cares Foundation generously matched the funds United Way of the Crossroads set aside for this process for organizations that also fit the TDECU Cares Foundation’s giving criteria.
    Eight organizations were granted funds from through this process:
    Shiner Food Pantry (Lavaca County) $3,000 for food purchases
    C.A.M.A.L. House (DeWitt County) $1,000 for food purchases
    Connection Café- Yorktown (DeWitt County) $1,000 for senior meals
    Crystal Theater (Gonzales County) $3,000 for youth programming
    Goliad County Outreach (Goliad County) $3,000 for food purchases
    Goliad County Senior Center (Goliad County) $3,000 for senior meals
    Gonzales Christian Assistance Ministry- GCAM (Gonzales County) $3,000 for food purchases
    Gonzales County Senior Citizens Association (Gonzales County) $3,000 for senior meals