HISD Interim Superintendent joins volunteers working alongside First Lady at Houston Food Bank

Houston Independent School District Interim Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan joined dozens of volunteers gathered Friday at the Houston Food Bank to work alongside First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as she packaged food and water for Houston families.

The visit was part of a multi-stop tour of Houston by President Biden and the first lady to survey the damage caused by last week’s historic winter storm that led to widespread power and water outages across the state.

Lathan joined the effort at the food bank to highlight the impact that food insecurity has had on thousands of HISD families over the past year. The district has partnered with the country’s largest food bank to provide more than 30 million pounds of food to families since the pandemic started nearly one year ago.

“President Biden has made a recommendation to increase spending in Title 1, which means HISD students will benefit from that increase funding,” Lathan said.

“I’m excited that he is supporting people of poverty — especially children that need additional resources through academics, enrichment, and intervention — and I’m really excited that our first lady is an educator.”

While the first lady volunteered at the food bank, President Biden toured the Harris County Emergency Operations Center. The president later joined the first lady to tour the food bank and to meet volunteers.

The president later visited a new mass COVID-19 vaccination site at NRG Stadium.