Austin Convention Center Hosts Food, Face Shield Programs to Support Community

Austin Convention Center Department

April 24, 2020

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Convention Center Department is involved with two local community programs to aid and support the assembly of food with the Eating Apart Together Initiative and with the Dell Medical Face Shield Project.

“In the spirit of aiding our local communities the ACCD staff gives its unbounded support,” said Trisha Tatro, Interim Director, Austin Convention Center Department. “We are looking to help our community any way we can and in cooperation with local organizations we can streamline the assembly process by providing space and staffing to make this happen.”

Eating Apart Together (EAT) Initiative

• Changes in the food system caused by the COVID-19 have hit people and families experiencing homelessness especially hard. To help everyone stay well and safe, the City and community organizations created the Eating Apart Together (EAT) Initiative to source and deliver food to those in need
• The Austin Convention Center Department is providing space and people power to package food that is then delivered by outreach organizations across the city
• Following the first food drop of shelf-stable food from the Central Texas Food Bank, the Austin Convention Center Department staff, in 8 hours, packages more than 1,000 bags for the week
• The Austin Convention Center will continue to host the packaging and distribution of food to organizations as the initiative grows and changes to meet people’s needs through the evolving crisis.

Dell Medical Face Shield Project

• Face Shield Project, is an Austin based volunteer organization manufacturing and assembling face shields for healthcare workers and first responders at the Austin Convention Center. This is a partnership between the local companies, the City of Austin and the UT Dell Medical School
• Two shifts operated on Apr. 15 -16 from 2-6 p.m. with 30 volunteers and will continue from Apr. 18-26
• The goal is to assemble 30,000 face shields in two weeks.

Located in the heart of downtown, the Austin Convention Center Department is comprised of 290 full-time staff members and is an enterprise department for the City of Austin. Over 10 million people have attended 6,000+ events, including over 900 conventions, at the LEED® Gold-certified Austin Convention Center since it opened in 1992. More information about the Austin Convention Center and the Palmer Events Center can be accessed at www.austinconventioncenter.com.