[June 11, 2025, Austin, Texas] – Today, No Kid Hungry Texas announced an investment of over $300,000 in grant funding to 11 organizations, supporting expanded access to flexible summer meal programs for kids during school breaks.
Traditionally, federally funded summer meal programs have been required to operate in a congregate setting, where kids must consume meals on-site. However, these models have historically reached only a fraction of eligible children, with an estimated 6 out of 7 kids missing out on this essential summer nutrition. Barriers to access are even greater in rural communities, where meal sites may be sparsely located, coupled with transportation costs and schedule limitations for working caregivers.
Federal policy changes have allowed rural communities to offer non-congregate meal service, granting greater flexibility to offer meals in ways that best fit the needs of the community. Non-congregate models include drive-thru meal pickups, multi-day meal distributions, and home delivery, and often require more resources to operate, in the form of additional staffing and equipment.
“Childhood hunger remains a serious challenge in communities across Texas—especially during the summer, when access to school meals disappears,” said Stacie Sanchez Hare, director of No Kid Hungry Texas. “With rising grocery costs and increasingly limited resources for families, our grants are designed to expand our partners’ capacity to reach kids with meals when school is out.”
The latest grants from No Kid Hungry Texas support school districts, food banks, and other community organizations in implementing non-congregate meal programs, helping more kids access nutritious meals throughout the summer. Funding will support a range of needs, including the purchase of point-of-sale machines, fuel for meal delivery buses, and staffing for home delivery services.
“We know the challenges for parents and caregivers when it comes to commuting to meal sites each day, and this grant will help us feed more kids with the rural non-congregate summer meals program,” said Mel Jackson, executive director of the Josh Howard Foundation. “The support from No Kid Hungry Texas is a lifeline as we go into the summertime, and we look forward to seeing the lasting impact of this partnership.”
The following 11 organizations received grant funding:
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- Bright Nutrition
- Central Texas Food Bank
- East Central
- ISD Hearne ISD
- Sabinal ISD
- Smithville ISD
- The Josh Howard Foundation
- Triangle Community Outreach
- Houston Food Bank
- Regional East Texas Food Bank
- San Antonio Food Bank
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.
