As the afternoon sun bore down on NRG Park, HISD Nutrition Services staff stood under the shade of tents with misting fans and bottled water.
With the clock moving closer to 2 p.m., they busily prepared for the thousands of people queueing up in lines that snaked through the parking lot — all waiting for food.
Coordinated by Nutrition Services in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, the mass community food distribution was the first of three planned for this month at NRG.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District, in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, is hosting mass community food distributions on in August at NRG Stadium.
Nutrition Services staff are expected to distribute 5,000 food packages as well as 5,000 packages of student meals. The family food packages will have up to 60 pounds of food, while each student meals package will contain a week’s worth of breakfast and lunch meals.
Distribution is open from 2 to 7 p.m. on Aug. 14, Aug. 21, and Aug. 28 in the NRG yellow lot. Attendees must enter via the yellow lot main entrance off South Main Street. During the final distribution — on Aug. 28 only — families also will receive school supplies donated by T-Mobile, Reliant, and Kroger.
Continue readingNutrition Services received top honors for its school-based initiatives and ongoing community outreach in Food Management magazine’s 2020 Best Concept awards competition.
The department was named Editor’s Choice Best Concept Awards Best of Show for their efforts to feed families during the COVID-19 pandemic, expand salad bars to all campuses, and launch a food literacy program to help students understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
The magazine also highlighted the department’s Good Food campaign, which calls for all students to have access to nutritious food that is flavorful, colorful, wholesome, and locally sourced, and recognized the team for successfully converting from third-party management to self-operating status.
Continue readingBeginning Monday, the Houston Independent School District will deliver a weeks’ worth of student meals directly to three apartment complexes with large concentrations of students in the Wheatley High School feeder pattern.
Offered through Nutrition Services Houston Eats catering service, the delivery service will be provided through August as a complement to the district’s curbside summer meals program.
The program is open to students who are between the ages 1 to 18 and live in the apartment complexes where the food is being delivered. Participants do not have to be enrolled in HISD schools.
Continue readingSeven sites to provide food for students and families in partnership with Houston Food Bank
When the Houston Independent School District reopens its curbside summer meals program on Monday, July 20, it will do so with 12 sites strategically located throughout the city.
Seven of those locations will be operated in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, allowing families to pick up several days’ worth of student meals as well as packages of produce — and other food items when available — for families.
HISD Nutrition Services previously operated several dozen smaller sites but streamlined operations to maximize resources in areas with the most need and reduce staff needed on site as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the city.
Continue readingThe Houston Independent School District is temporarily closing most Curbside Summer Meals sites beginning Friday, July 3, due to guidance from public health officials and rising numbers of COVID-19 cases throughout the city.
Five strategically located sites offering both Curbside Summer Meals and the Houston Food Bank’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program — which provides families with 30-pound boxes of produce — will remain open.
Those sites are Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, Revere Middle School, and Kashmere, Chavez, and Milby high schools.
Continue readingThe Fresh Bus produce delivery program will come to an end this week as the grant provided by the Texas Department of Agriculture Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program has concluded.
Final produce deliveries scheduled for Thursday are canceled due to inclement weather.
Families in need are encouraged to visit one of the district’s Curbside Summer Meals sites, where they can pick up several days’ worth of student meals on Mondays and Thursdays.
Continue readingThe curbside summer meals site at Chavez High School is temporarily closed for cleaning and sanitization due to a possible case of the COVID-19 virus.
The new site had been scheduled to begin serving curbside summer meals for students and boxed produce for families on Monday. It is now closed until further notice.
Continue readingTwo curbside summer meals sites will be closed from June 15 to June 29, following a confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus.
Paige and Port Houston elementary schools will be deep-cleaned and sanitized during the temporary closure.
Impacted employees have been notified and are now in self-quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines. Health authorities do not believe families participating in the curbside summer meals program were exposed.
Continue readingThree curbside summer meals sites are closed effective Monday, June 8, and will remain closed until further notice.
Summer meals sites at R. P. Harris and Nathaniel Q. Henderson elementary schools are closed due to facility issues, while the site at Oates Elementary School is closed due to a confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus. The case is not related to HISD Nutrition Services or its curbside summer meals program, but it does impact the availability of the site.
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