HISD transitioning to twice-weekly curbside meal pickup, launching weekly community food distributions

As the district prepares to resume in-person learning this month, Nutrition Services is transitioning from daily to twice-weekly curbside pickup for student meals and launching two Neighborhood Supersites as part of a weekly community food distribution initiative.

The move to twice-weekly campus-based curbside pickup begins Monday, Oct. 12 thanks to a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It allows families to pick up several days’ worth of meals at each pickup — three on Mondays and four on Thursdays.

Neighborhood Supersites are designed to provide standing times and locations where the community can pick up 32 pounds of groceries — including produce, dairy, and meat — for their families, as well as a week’s worth of student meals.

Family food boxes are available at no cost to the general public. Student meals are available at no cost to any child who is between the ages of 1 and 18 and not engaged in in-person learning. Children must be in the car or families must provide a birth certificate or proof of enrollment in any school district for each child needing meals.

“As we move closer to in-person instruction, we want to ensure our students and families have access to the food they need,” HISD Interim Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan said. “These changes will help us serve families in a more efficient, impactful way.”

Curbside Pickup

During the week of Monday, Oct. 12, campus-based curbside pickup will be available on Monday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Beginning Monday, Oct. 19, campus-based curbside pickup will shift to 2 to 5 p.m. every Monday and Thursday. Meals include breakfast and lunch only until Monday, Oct. 19, when snack and dinner also will begin to be provided.

Additionally, three select campus-based curbside pickup locations — Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center and Milby and Chavez high schools — will continue to provide 32-pound family food boxes to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis through a partnership with the Houston Food Bank.

Curbside pickup also will continue daily at a rotating list of apartment complexes, Monday through Friday from 1 to 3 p.m.  

Neighborhood Supersites

Beginning Saturday, Oct. 24, Nutrition Services will host weekly community food distributions every Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. through Dec. 31. The Saturday distributions will replace the previously scheduled Wednesday distributions to better accommodate working families.

For more a complete list of student meal and community food pickup times and locations, visit HoustonISD.org/StudentMeals. Families are encouraged to check the website for temporary closures before going to the distribution location.