THE CIRCUMSTANCES

Every day, hungry kids across Houston count on the nonprofit Kids’ Meals to deliver what may be their only meal. Sometimes, the children are from families trapped in generational poverty. Sometimes, their families were formerly considered middle class and have slipped into situational poverty. Regardless, all of Kids’ Meals clients are families with low incomes. Its focus is on children aged 5 and under who don’t have access to free and reduced lunch at school during the most formative time for their brain development.

THE SHIFT

Not only do these meals help nourish young children, they save families an average of $6 to $9 per day per child. That money can help pay the rent, cover transportation to work, maintain utilities or buy additional food — essential factors in preventing homelessness and sustaining families. Currently, Kids’ Meals serves over 9,000 children daily, but with 100,000 Houston-area preschool children threatened by food insecurity, there is a need for much more. Kids’ Meals made plans to expand.

THE RESULT

The Kids’ Meals ExxonMobil Campus, a new 54,000-square-foot food distribution and social services center, more than doubles Kids’ Meals’ current footprint and triples its volunteer capacity. Further, with a $6.3 million subsidy, Kids’ Meals aims to scale from 3 million meals served annually to more than 6 million by 2031, benefitting more than 10,000 unique families.