Feeding the children of West Texas who might not otherwise eat this weekend.
Food 2 Kids
Recent estimates tell us that over 9,800 local children don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Food 2 Kids is a community effort to feed these hungry children of the Permian Basin. With the community’s help, the program has grown to feed thousands of these hungry children each school year, but the need is far greater.
Food 2 Kids was founded in 2010 when the Junior League of Odessa partnered with the West Texas Food Bank, the Education Foundation and the Ector County Independent School District. In the spring semester of 2010, Food 2 Kids began feeding 415 hungry children in two ECISD elementary schools. By the end of the 2010-2011 school year, Food 2 Kids had expanded into four schools, and was feeding over 1,000 children. By the end of the spring 2015 semester, Food 2 Kids will be feeding over 2,300 children in 17 ECISD elementary schools. Food 2 Kids also serves schools in Midland, Pecos, Fort Stockton, Big Spring and beyond.
Children are nominated for the program by parents, teachers and counselors. A child may be nominated if they meet certain criteria. The child must be enrolled in the reduced, or free lunch program and must be deemed to be at risk of not having regular meals over the weekend. We especially rely no teachers who look for signs of hunger which affect a child’s ability to stay focused in the classroom. On Friday, sacks are discretely placed into student’s backpacks. Food2Kids has four different menus it designed that rotate every week. While the food varies, each sack provides enough food to last the weekend and generally includes meat dishes, something fruit based, vegetables, drinks, cereal bars and a dessert. Proper nourishment is critical to helping our children stay focused at school so they can learn.
Food 2 Kids has grown thanks to the help of our communities. We are continually humbled by the generosity of our neighbors. We thank those who volunteer their time and open their wallets. Without this support, Food 2 Kids would not be able to operate. As we look to the future and look at further expansion, we ask for your help to wipe out hunger in our school children. Please consider making a tax deductible donation by following the link to the right. Also, please join us at our food sackings which take place at 5:30 pm on the first and third Wednesday of the month, at a West Texas Food Bank warehouse located at 202 S. Lincoln Ave. Odessa, Tx, 79761. These sackings last for one hour and bring together our incredibly diverse community. Through the hard work of our volunteers we sack 3,360 sacks for hungry kids in about an hour. Where else can you donate such a short amount of time and help so many?
To provide weekend meals for elementary children who might not eat between their school lunch on Friday and their school breakfast on Monday.
