Research shows that children who eat breakfast in the morning are more alert, have better concentration and memory, and are more likely to reach higher levels of achievement in reading and math.
“School breakfasts are one of the first lines of defense to ensure kids are set up for success, yet so many children start the day without a nutritious meal,” said Stacie Sanchez Hare, Director of No Kid Hungry Texas. “We are excited to support our school partners with these grants, helping them implement and expand innovative options that meet kids with healthy breakfasts every morning.”
No Kid Hungry Texas awarded a variety of grant amounts to districts, targeting areas with the highest potential impact. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD was awarded $58,500 to launch a grab-and-go program at four schools, as well as to replace breakfast carts at five schools in the district. West Oso ISD, near Corpus Christi, received $34,000 to implement grab-and-go options for the first time, while Rio Hondo ISD in the Rio Grande Valley will use the $21,000 grant to expand its existing alternative breakfast program.
Schools Benefitting from Grants:
- Rio Hondo ISD
- Rio Hondo Junior High School
- West Oso ISD
- West Oso Junior High School
- West Oso High School
- Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD
- Field Middle School
- Polk Middle School
- Creekview High School
- Smith High School
- Turner High School
- Blalack Middle School
- Bush Middle School
- Perry Middle School
- Ranchview High School
“Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD has been working actively toward encouraging our students to participate in school breakfast each and every day to support their learning through the academic day. These efforts have included piloting breakfast carts in secondary schools and implementing universally free breakfast district-wide,” said Kristen Hess, Child Nutrition Director of Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. “These grant funds that we have been so generously gifted by No Kid Hungry Texas will enable us to extend breakfast carts to all of our secondary schools in school year 2025-2026 and improve our offerings, breakfast accessibility, and student participation. We are beyond grateful for this opportunity and partnership with No Kid Hungry Texas.”
No Kid Hungry Texas’ investment in school breakfast goes beyond grantmaking: during the 88th Texas Legislature, the organization successfully garnered a state budget approval to cover the cost of school breakfasts for reduced-price eligible children. This funding resulted in over 7.7 million additional meals being served at no cost during the 2023-2024 school year.
To learn more about No Kid Hungry’s advocacy work and year-round grantmaking in Texas, please visit https://state.nokidhungry.org/texas/.
About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids could face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org.
