Tyler

The East Texas Food Bank in Tyler received awards recognizing innovation in food sourcing and marketing, the agency announced Wednesday.

America's Second Harvest, a national network of food banks, presents the awards in evaluating efforts of its member agencies.

The Innovative Food Sourcing Campaign of the Year award recognizes ETFB's "Forward Haul" program to decrease transportation costs, introduce new pounds of food and diversify product inventory. ETFB estimates the program saved $80,000 and led to distribution of 679,000 more pounds of food.

ETFB's "Eat Smart, Play Hard. Fuel up for Summer Fun" program was named Innovative Marketing Campaign of the Year. The campaign integrated marketing strategy with leveraged funding sources, targeted media spots, direct mail distribution and free transportation for participants.

After the campaign was implemented, participation in the summer food program increased by nearly 100 percent from the previous year, the announcement said.