Kids Meals Houston: Helping to End Childhood Hunger - Kingwood Moms

Kids Meals Houston Delivery Area

I met with Cynthia, Director of Kids Meals Houston (who happens to be a Kingwood resident), a few weeks ago and was absolutely blown away at the operation. Kids Meals Houston started in 2006. “Our mission is to end childhood hunger by delivering free healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston’s hungriest preschool-aged children and through collaboration provide their families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. Kids’ Meals is a first-responder to children ages five-years-old and under facing debilitating hunger due to extreme poverty. We are currently servicing seven Houston area routes that target zip codes where the need is critical”.

How amazing is that?! This is one less stress on the parents.
HARRIS COUNTY HAS THE 2ND HIGHEST RATE OF CHILD FOOD INSECURITY IN THE NATION  

HOUSTON RANKS AS 5th IN THE UNITED STATES FOR CHILDREN LIVING WITH FOOD INSECURITY

Every day in our community there are 88,740 children who may not know where their next meal is coming. That is 1 out of 4 preschoolers! Kids Meals Houston is bridging the gap for those families who have little means of obtaining meals for their young children on a regular basis. They are the ONLY home meal delivery program in the nation for poverty-stricken preschool-aged children.

The schools I used to teach at were Title I schools. I have seen first hand the parents struggle to feed their kids, they might have enough money for one child’s lunch but not all of them. I have seen hungry kids that can’t concentrate because their stomachs are growling.  With this program, parents do not have to worry about that. Kids Meals Houston feeds EVERY child in the house, during ANY school breaks, even if they are older than 5. That means over the Summer, Spring Break, Christmas Holiday, ANY school holiday the parent know that their children will be fed. ALL of their children. Can you imagine having to choose which child to feed? Food Insecurities cause health, behavior, and learning issues among children.

Volunteer. Donate. Support. Shop.
Kids Meals Houston couldn’t run as it does without all of its partners who provide the food. It couldn’t run without the donation drives from the schools or companies who help out. It couldn’t run without the countless number of volunteers helping to pack the lunches to the drivers who visit and say hi to the families every day.
Shop, yes shop. Click the link and shop directly for the items that Kids Meals Houston needs! I know I keep saying this, but HOW COOL! I love this because I know this is EXACTLY what they need and can use and none of it will go to waste.
Fruits Cups, Squeezes, Fruit Snacks, Raisins are some of the most needed products.

A few fun ideas to get the kids involved is to get the bigger brown lunch sacks and decorate them. You and your kids can be as creative as you would like. You are more than welcome to use foam stickers, colors, markers. The only request is NO glitter.
Get creative and write math problems on the bags, write spelling words, write your favorite Bible Verse or favorite saying.
Just make it positive. Sometimes, the kids getting these lunches are embarrassed. So by decorating the bags, it makes them feel special. These kids are special! They should never feel shame.

Zip Loc Bag Drive: Sandwich sized bags are used every day to pack lunches. Kids Meals Houston goes through about 4,000 ziplock bags EVERY DAY!

Juice Box Drive: Some local schools have collected 7,000-8,000 juice boxes.
-If you or another school would like to collect juice boxes contact  Kelsey@kidsmealshouston.org for more information.

Canned Food Drive is another great idea and is always needed as well.

Another idea Cynthia asked me to share was, you know that happy meal toys that you are like again? What am I going to do with this?
Mail it into Kids Meals Houston. Yes, they would love to have them. New and unused of course. Or toys from the dollar spot at Target or the Dollar Stores are both great ways to make kids feel loved and special. There are more than 200 kids that walk into the office with their families due to missing deliveries for a various reason so they walk into the facility. Cynthia and the staff always like to have something special for the kids that walk in.
If you want to help donate toys for walk-in families here are some suggestions:
-Chalk
-Bubbles
-Bouncy Balls (Big enough so they aren’t a choking hazard)
-Little Books
-Crayons
-Jump Ropes
-Small New Stuffed Animals

I am going to leave you with this…in 2018 Kids Meals Houston delivered 899,207 meals! This year they are projected to deliver 998,000 meals. Kids Meals Houston is looking to expand its delivery area but can’t do that without us. It needs more partners, volunteers, and donations.

Here are some Events to help support:
Shipley’s Donut Dash- April 13th
Top Golf-Houston-May 6th
June-August- Juice Box Challenge
October 23-Trunk or Treat
November 1st-Harvest Luncheon 

To find out more about Kids Meals Houston
call 713-695-5437 or sign up to volunteer.
330 Garden Oaks Blvd, Houston, TX 77018

_This is not sponsored. I just truly wanted to let you know about this awesome resource to help families in need._
* I have been given permission to use Kids Meals Houston pictures*

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