Grantham Academy Students Make a Difference in Community

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Members of the Grantham Academy National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) gave something back to their community by volunteering at Kids’ Meals on February 1. Students prepared more than 1,200 sandwiches, packed sack lunches and helped stock the vans for their daily deliveries to the various Houston area neighborhoods to feed preschool-aged children.

According to the Houston Food Bank, more than 900,000 individuals in southeast Texas may not have food security. Food insecurity is when people don’t have consistent access to enough nutritious food. And on any given day 66,200 are hungry, 2,800 of them children. A USDA Hunger Report states that Texas has a 16.3% insecurity rate, ranking second highest in the country. The Houston Food Bank, powered by donors and working in partnership with nearly 500 hunger relief agencies, like Kids’ Meals, in 18 southeast Texas counties, feeds more than 137,000 individuals each week that are hungry or food insecure.

Of the 137,000 different people who receive food assistance each week:

• Nearly half of households include at least one working adult
• 94% are not homeless
• 47% are children

The mission of Kids’ Meals, Inc. is to end hunger among children by delivering nutritious meals to the doors of more than 1,700 children in need, free of cost, Monday through Friday year round. As Texas’ only meals-on-wheels service for children, Kids’ Meals provides healthy home-delivered lunches to hungry children under the age of five that live in poverty. Kids’ Meals is the only organization that is bridging the gap for hungry preschool aged children. Kids’ Meals, Inc. is the missing piece for children ages 1-5 who are too old for services from organizations such as WIC and not yet old enough to receive free breakfast and lunch in school. Visit Kids’ Meals, Inc. to learn more about the organization.

Sebrina Shields-Taylor, lead counselor, and Angelia Swinton, language arts coach, both serve as NJHS advisors at Grantham Academy. Both accompanied the students to Kids’ Meals.

Grantham Academy NJHS students are seen loading boxes with food items for delivery.

Student members of Grantham Academy’s NJHS are pictured with Ruth Burrell, executive director of Kids’ Meals.