Jim Wells County sheriff pays for summer food drive for families

When school lets out, many Jim Wells County children lose the breakfast and lunch they rely on during the year, and that leaves a real gap in household budgets as summer begins.

Sheriff Joseph Guy Baker said he is paying for a community food drive out of his own pocket so children and families can get through the summer with less stress. The effort is not tied to the sheriff’s office as an agency and has no eligibility requirements, meaning anyone who needs help can receive it.

Baker said the rising cost of everyday essentials pushed him to act. His goal, he said, is to make sure children still have something to eat when school cafeterias are closed and families are facing higher grocery bills.

Residents who want to help can donate through the Jim Wells County Sheriff’s Department in Alice, at 300 N Cameron Street. The office sits in the county seat and handles more than law enforcement, including criminal investigations, traffic enforcement, jail operations, courthouse security, subpoenas and bail-related duties.

The drive comes at a time when the summer hunger gap is a real concern across Texas. Feeding Texas says summer can mean losing access to reliable school meals for 1 in 4 Texas children facing hunger. The Texas Department of Agriculture runs the Summer Meals Program, which provides no-cost meals to children and teens 18 and younger, as well as enrolled students with disabilities up to age 21. No application or identification is required; children simply show up.

Nationally, the need is just as stark. Feeding America’s 2025 Map the Meal Gap study found that nearly 20% of children in the United States experienced food insecurity in 2023. The group also reported that more than 80% of counties with the highest child food insecurity rates are rural, and that some rural counties see child food insecurity as high as 50%.

Those numbers land differently in Jim Wells County, a rural South Texas county that covers 865.2 square miles and had a population of 38,891 in the Census Bureau profile. The county’s median household income was listed at $51,896, and 20.9% of residents were uninsured. In a place where distance, transportation and fewer support networks can make shortages harder to manage, Baker’s decision to fund the drive himself gives the effort a direct local meaning.

Baker was sworn in on January 1, 2025, after winning the 2024 election, and the food drive has quickly become one of the clearest signs of how he wants to define the job. In Jim Wells County, the sheriff is presenting public safety and basic community care as part of the same responsibility.