El Paso County is known for its amazing art museums, rodeos, delicious food, and the passion that El Pasoans have for supporting one another. No Kid Hungry Texas staff visited El Paso in September to meet with passionate leaders dedicated to ending childhood hunger including the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank and several school districts in the area to learn more about the incredible work that is taking place to ensure that all children have access to three healthy meals a day.
El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank (EPFHFB)
For 3.7 million Texans, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a crucial benefit that helps families put food on the table each month. That’s why it’s important to ensure that every Texan who is eligible for SNAP has access to it. However, increasing SNAP enrollment does much more than support families – it also increases education funding and has the ability to expand no-cost school meals through the Community Eligibility Provision.
No Kid Hungry recently granted the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank over $100K to help continue integrating SNAP support into local school districts and the community. They process about 300 SNAP applications per month with a 96% approval rate. As part of this project, EPFHFB trains parent liaisons in El Paso ISD to provide SNAP assistance to families — leveraging schools as a central location for families to receive assistance.
“Thank you for taking the time to come visit us! We truly appreciate your support and interest in the food bank and look forward to continuing our partnership,” said EPFHFB Grants Writer Jill Brewster.
You can read more about the work of EPFHFB here.
El Paso Area School Districts
No Kid Hungry Texas understands the vital role school districts play in ensuring kids have the nutrition they need to thrive. No Kid Hungry Texas visited Canutillo ISD, El Paso ISD, Ysleta ISD, and Socorro ISD to identify ways in which the organization can be an active community partner and help school districts improve and expand their nutrition programs. The conversations with each of the districts were strengthened by the passion of the staff of the different nutrition departments, who work tirelessly to offer innovative and tasty meal options to feed as many students as possible.
As a border town, El Paso, has a predominantly Hispanic population as such it’s a priority for these school districts to include culturally appropriate food options in their menus – including enchiladas, picadillo, pupusas, and pozole. Additionally, these school districts offer alternative school breakfast delivery models to ensure all their students receive the nutrients they need to grow healthy and succeed academically.
School breakfast alternative models, such as breakfast in the classroom and grab-and-go, give more students the opportunity to eat breakfast at school, at a time that works for them. It removes common barriers like students missing breakfast because they arrive late or because they would rather skip breakfast to hang out with their friends outside of the cafeteria in the morning. “School meals play a central role in ensuring Texas kids receive the nutrition they need to thrive, especially in under-resourced communities which may have limited access to fresh, healthy foods,” said No Kid Hungry Texas Director Stacie Sanchez Hare.
Thank you, El Paso!
It is clear that El Pasoans are passionate about addressing childhood hunger in their community, and No Kid Hungry is thrilled to continue developing partnerships in the area that can make a long-lasting impact.
We thank all the colleagues who made No Kid Hungry Texas’ visit to El Paso, TX a fruitful and inspiring experience, we are grateful to you!