HISD has been working with the Houston Food Bank for years to provide non-perishable, kid-appealing, nutritious foods to students who are at high risk of food insecurity or are chronically hungry over the weekend. About 2,100 district students from 62 schools receive bags of donated food each week through the Food Bank’s Backpack Buddy program.

Now, that program is slated to become even easier for campus administrators and staff, as HISD’s Nutrition Services department will begin delivering the food bags directly to participating schools starting Nov. 17.

“Schools will benefit from Nutrition Services taking on the delivery, since school staff won’t have to drive to the Food Bank each week to pick up the food,” said Nan Cramer, community outreach dietitian for HISD. “We are helping them save time and expense. Hopefully, this means more schools can participate and more students will benefit from the program.”

“The Food Bank has been very accommodating in helping us develop a process that will work for our delivery staff, who will be handling the pallets and boxes of foods,” added Marina DeFuentes, general manager of Nutrition Services.

The Backpack Buddies program is supported through donations from the public to the Houston Food Bank.

PARENTS: Please contact your child’s school to find out if it is a participating campus.

ADMINISTRATORS: For more information, or to request the program at your campus, please contact Lauren Horton at lhorton@houstonfoodbank.org or 832-369-9205.