Moving Forward Together: The Cindy Ramsey Center Partners with Run Project
We all have a starting line and a finish line.
For a runner, it might look like training to beat their time from the last race. For another, it might be just getting out of their comfort zone and trying something new. At Cindy Ramsey Center, we understand the importance of taking a step in the right direction.
Every single week, thousands of families across our community find their starting line at the Cindy Ramsey Center. While every person carries a unique story and follows their own path toward a finish line, they all share a common drive. From seniors navigating life on fixed incomes to parents striving to provide for their children, or those facing the shock of sudden unemployment, they arrive here ready to take that vital step toward a brighter future.
Their circumstances are different, but they share a common need: access to food and a community willing to walk alongside them.
That is why the Cindy Ramsey Center is incredibly proud to partner with Run Project as a Featured Charity Partner.
Who Are We?
The Cindy Ramsey Center is a resource center located here in Fort Worth dedicated to Building Pathways to Food Security.
Food insecurity does not always look the way people expect it to.
It can look like a parent quietly putting something back at the grocery store because the total has climbed too high. It can look like a senior deciding whether a limited monthly income will cover groceries, medication, utilities, and housing. It can be a family doing everything they can to stay afloat while an unexpected expense changes their entire budget.
Sometimes, it is temporary, sometimes it lasts much longer.
The Cindy Ramsey Center was established with a singular focus: to alleviate one specific financial weight from the shoulders of our neighbors. Today, that mission has grown into a comprehensive support system. We provide resources that address immediate nutritional needs while creating a buffer against future economic hardship, empowering individuals to move beyond the need for assistance and cross their own personal finish lines.
We intentionally call the people we serve our Neighbors because that is exactly who they are.
They are part of our community.
They are the very people who are out in our community that we see at the market, our kids schools, or living right next door. Food insecurity doesn’t have a limit. It can affect anyone at any point. Food insecurity is one of the first effects seen when a family hits a financial hardship.
More Than a Box of Food
At CRC, we believe how we serve matters just as much as what we provide.
Our Indoor Market is designed to give neighbors the opportunity to select groceries for their own households. In place of a prepackaged box of canned and shelf stable goods, the CRC has opened up a market where neighbors come to shop for their groceries.
By opening up our market for neighbors to come shop, we not only are giving them a dignified way to receive food assistance, but also the opportunity to choose what they will actually use. Being able to choose your own food brings a sense of dignity and joy. No one chooses to face hardship or require food assistance, so we shouldn’t assume that a single standard package meets everyone’s needs. Just as one size of running shoes won’t fit every runner, one box of food cannot accommodate every dietary requirement. Furthermore, giving people the freedom to shop for what they truly want and need actively prevents food waste, allowing us to combat unnecessary waste far more effectively and the ability to serve more neighbors in our community.
Our Mobile Market is a completely different experience than our indoor choice-market. This is where our organization serves more than 600 families in 2 hours. Neighbors drive up and are able to receive food right there without even having to leave their car. Week after week, volunteers arrive ready to unload food, organize distribution areas, direct traffic, check in neighbors, pack produce, load vehicles, and do whatever else is necessary to make the market happen.
Behind every bag of produce and every grocery item placed into a vehicle is a network of people who decided that caring for their neighbors was worth showing up for.
That community is what makes CRC possible.
Why Our Partnership With Run Project Matters
That is what makes our partnership with Run Project so meaningful.
Running has an incredible ability to bring people together who might otherwise never cross paths. On race day, people with completely different backgrounds, abilities, experiences, and motivations can find themselves standing at the same starting line.
Community service works much the same way.
You do not have to have personally experienced food insecurity to care about a family that has.
You simply have to be willing to show up.
As a Featured Charity Partner, this partnership gives CRC an opportunity to introduce our mission to runners, families, volunteers, businesses, and community members who may be learning about our work for the first time.
And awareness matters.
Because every new person who discovers CRC has the potential to become part of the solution.
A runner can become a volunteer.
A local business can become a community partner.
A social media follower can share our mission with someone who needs assistance.
A donor can help make sure food is available when another family pulls into our parking lot.
One connection can create another, and that is how communities become stronger.
The Cindy Ramsey Center is dedicated to creating connections by linking neighbors to services and volunteers to opportunities, aiming to build pathways to food security and continuously expand its mission and impact for a better future.
We are honored to be a Run Project Featured Charity Partner, and we cannot wait to see where we go together.
