With the new school year just weeks away, organizations citywide are rallying to provide backpacks, school supplies, haircuts, immunizations, and food to families in need.
Continue readingTag Archives: houston food bank
HISD taps community program to feed Houstonians in need
HISD’s Student Assistance Department knows that students can’t learn on an empty stomach. While Nutrition Services provides students with three nutritious meals a day, Student Assistance strives to provide support for the whole student, and sometimes, that means also supporting their families and communities.
Student Assistance partnered with Second Servings, a local nonprofit that specializes in “food rescue,” the practice of recovering and redirecting edible food from grocery stores and other food retailers that would otherwise go to waste. Second Servings works with these retailers to collect short-dated or unsold food items and redistribute them to people in need.
Continue readingHISD students raise money for the Houston Food Bank through Imagine Learning Math Program
HISD community partner Imagine learning hosted a celebration ceremony at The Rice School to recognize the top donating classroom and student for their Do Math Pay It Forward contest.
Continue readingFood distribution efforts reach nearly 40,000 families
In a matter of eight days, the food distribution sites operated by the Houston Independent School District in partnership with the Houston Food Bank assisted nearly 40,000 families.
The 61 food distributions served approximately 1 million pounds of food to families in need before being canceled late Wednesday. Nearly 2,000 staff and volunteers assisted with the efforts and were able to serve 5,000 families per day throughout HISD.
The cancellation of the distribution sites will remain in effect as the district re-evaluates its process for safely delivering this service to students and families.
Continue readingCullen MS students distribute free groceries to families in need
Cullen Middle School students made the holiday season a little brighter on Thursday for their community during the campus’ school market, where 150 families were provided with more than 2,000 pounds of free groceries.
The School Market, which is a bi-weekly food distribution run entirely by student volunteers, provides food assistance to community members, as well as families of students from Cullen and nearby Foster, Lockhart and Peck elementary schools. The provisions are especially beneficial to parents in need during the holidays.
“Here at our school a large percentage of our families live at or below the poverty line,” said Cullen Wraparound Specialist Nora Lemon, who oversees the entire operation. “This market provides the flexibility and sustainability they need to ensure their students are fed and eating healthy meals at home.”
Continue readingSpecial needs student lands full-time job at Houston Food Bank
HISD has several transitional programs for students with cognitive disabilities that train them to find meaningful work and sustainable life situations after graduation. After two years in the H.E.A.R.T. program at the Houston Food Bank, Trevor has been hired as a full-time worker. Trevor is doing everything regular employees do—chopping vegetables, cutting bread, packaging meals, and washing trays and utensil. Trevor’s mother is thrilled.
Watch the video to find out what Trevor is planning to do with his first paycheck.
Special needs students return for second year of transitional work program
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000p_2OsCVWgGY” g_name=”20171019-Houston-Food-Bank” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
With the beginning of a new school year, there are new classes underway in HISD’s transitional programs for students with cognitive disabilities that train them to find meaningful work and sustainable life situations after graduation.
HISD students participate in classes within the community at the Houston Food Bank (HISD/H.E.A.R.T.), Houston Community College, and Texas Children’s Health Plan (Project SEARCH).
In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we revisited the Houston Food Bank to see how students are doing (see last year’s story here). The second-year pilot program is underway, with four students returning from last year to experience real-world employment, working 40 hours a week from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. They are responsible for finding their own rides to work, and they use METROlift or get rides from family members. Continue reading
New teachers join Houston Food Bank to help feed local kids
A group of teachers new to HISD for 2017-2018 school year kicked off their introduction to the district on a very positive note Monday by volunteering at the Houston Food Bank.
The new teachers, a few from as far away as Spain, joined an assembly line process to sort and pack food supplies for the HISD families and many surrounding counties.
“The children deserve all of our efforts and all of our hours together to put together the food they need to have the nutrition that they need to learn,” said Idrisa Abdul-Hamid, HISD senior manager for Onboarding.
For more information on volunteering with the Houston Food Bank, go to HoustonFoodBank.org/Volunteer
Students learn valuable life skills through H.E.A.R.T. internships at Houston Food Bank
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000K7ZskvcmIio” g_name=”20161010-H-E-A-R-T-at-Houston-Food-Bank” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
HISD has several programs to help young adults with significant disabilities transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, we will be featuring three of these programs. This is the first in the series. Read the second in the series, about students thriving in an office environment, here.
Gracie, 19, is an outgoing Sharpstown International High School student. She gets up early, dresses in a purple or grey HISD polo shirt and khaki pants, and catches the school bus to the Houston Food Bank. She has a job to do.
Gracie is one of 17 HISD students with developmental disabilities working as interns at the Houston Food Bank through a partnership with H.E.A.R.T (Housing, Entrepreneurship, and Readiness Training). The students, ages 18-22, officially will graduate once their internships are complete.
Student-run Apollo Market serves 200 families more than 6,000 lbs. of groceries
Sharpstown High School students, as well as volunteers from Morgan Stanley, Memorial Hermann, and Volunteer Houston, made the holiday season a little brighter for their community at last weekend’s Apollo market. Approximately 200 families were provided with more than 6,000 pounds of groceries.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000VFom9uDvldU” g_name=”20151212-ApolloMarket” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
The Apollo Market is a weekly food distribution run entirely by student volunteers, but the December 12 market included a special holiday fair for the community, which included:
* fresh groceries, including a turkey
* a recipe demonstration by the Sharpstown High School HealthCorps Cooking Club
* free blood-pressure screenings from Memorial Hermann Southwest staff
* the opportunity to learn more about the onsite Memorial Hermann school clinic
* a nutrition demonstration by Houston Food Bank staff
* booths with holiday games and activities provided by Morgan Stanley staff * the opportunity to register for eligible social services with Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS).
“This was such a great event to support the local community.” said Sharpstown community member Kim Benson. “I was impressed by the students, who were helpful and sweet. It really puts you in the holiday spirit.”