Contact: Hannah Faulkner, hannah@apccollective.com
San Antonio, TEXAS [May 26, 2026] – Today, No Kid Hungry Texas announced an investment of $289,982 in funding across eleven organizations providing summer meals in 48 Texas counties to strengthen food access during school breaks.
For years, federally funded summer meal programs have required children to eat on-site at designated locations, yet this model only reaches a fraction of eligible kids. The challenge is heightened in rural areas, where there are fewer meal sites and far distances between them, and working parents often face the added hurdles of limited transportation and inflexible schedules.
Federal legislation opened the door for rural communities to move beyond traditional on-site meal service, providing program operators more flexibility to deliver food in ways that better reflect local needs. This non-congregate approach includes options such as drive-thru pickups, multi-day distributions, and home delivery, but often requires greater operational demands, such as additional staff and equipment.
This investment reflects No Kid Hungry Texas’s continued commitment to expanding summer meal access, especially in rural communities where non-congregate models have shown the greatest potential to reach kids who would otherwise go without.
“The summer months are especially difficult for Texas students when school meals disappear,” said Stacie Sanchez Hare, director of No Kid Hungry Texas. “As food costs climb and families face mounting financial pressures, these grants help our partners build the capacity to connect more kids with reliable meals during the summer months.”
With food costs continuously rising, the latest No Kid Hungry Texas poll shows that the majority of Texas families (62% of respondents) say they struggle to make sure their children have enough nutritious food when school is out, while 68% say it is more difficult to make ends meet in summer.
The following 10 organizations will expand rural summer meal access through initiatives such as new meal sites, extended hours, weekend service, home delivery, and drive-through options, with funding supporting critical operational needs, including staffing, transportation, supplies, and equipment.
- Beeville ISD
- Brenham ISD
- Bright Nutrition
- Central Texas Food Bank
- Grapeland ISD
- Hearne ISD
- Houston Food Bank
- Sabinal ISD
- San Antonio Food Bank
- Smithville ISD
- The Josh Howard Foundation
No Kid Hungry Texas partners with school districts and community organizations across the state, as well as advocates for smart policy solutions that ensure all Texas children are nourished year-round. To learn more about the organization’s grantmaking and advocacy, visit https://state.nokidhungry.org/texas/.
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. 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.
