CAMERON, Texas — Rosa Contreras' husband has been battling cancer for a few years now.
As his medical bills pile up, she sets aside a small amount of money for food.
"It's hard. We don't get that much. Every check just comes and goes — pay our bills, our rent, our car payment. That's it," she said.
To help her out for the holidays, she is signing up for the Cameron Thift Shop's Christmas food distribution, and so are 226 others.
"It helps me. It helps a lot," Contreras said.
But Lisa Condry, the shop manager, doesn't know how she'll provide food for all of them.
It's the largest number they've served since the 1980s. But it's emptying their shelves.
"We've seen a huge uptick in the grocery bags that we've done every day," Condry said.
The shop buy some food to keep the pantry stocked.
But inflation is affecting how much they pay.
Consumer prices for food rose about 2.9% from November 2022 to November 2023.
Condry says the store spent about $5,000 during its Thanksgiving distribution last month.
They rely on donations, though, mainly from churches.
They're partnering with the Cameron Volunteer Fire Department to host a food drive Saturday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
"The idea came for the food drive at the fill the boat from the Cameron Fire Department," she said. "They take their boat and their firemen and solicit canned goods."
If they don't get enough, some food items may have to be left out.
"We're gonna hope we'll have enough items for everything," Condry said.
