Fact Sheets

Children's Programs

MISSION:
The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) seeks to eliminate Hunger by distributing food and grocery products through a network of nonprofit organizations while providing education and increasing community awareness on issues of Hunger.

Four of the NTFB programs provide food to children:

Member Agencies feed families and children through pantries, shelters and soup kitchens.  More than forty percent of households served have children age 18 or younger.

Food 4 Kids supplies schools in low-income areas with nutritious, kid-friendly, self-serve food designed to fill a backpack and feed a child over the weekend during the school year.  Children chronically at risk of hunger are identified by their teachers to participate in this program that provides immediate, confidential and direct assistance to meet their nutrition needs.

Kids Cafe works with after-school programs to provide nutritious evening meals to children that may otherwise not receive that third meal at home.  All twenty-two NTFB Kids Cafes receive hot meals from NTFB’s Community Kitchen.

Summer Food Service Program ensures that children in low-income areas receive nutritious meals during summer vacations when they do not have access to school breakfast or lunch programs.  The meals increase attendance at programs that provide learning opportunities that are safe and fun. 

NEED:

• In Texas, 1 in 4 children (1.5 million) live in families at or below the federal poverty level. 1
• Almost 1 in 4 children in Texas (over 1.4  million) live in food insecure households. 2
• In the 13-county service area of NTFB, there are 1.2 million children; 272,080 of them are living at or below the federal poverty level. 3
• Even mild under-nutrition experienced by young children during critical periods of growth may lead to reductions in physical growth and impaired brain function. 4
• Children who live in food insecure households have poorer health, and food security should be considered an important risk factor for child health. 5
• Of the households served by NTFB with children 18 years old or younger, 67.9% participate in the free or reduced federal school lunch program, but only 8.8% participate  in a summer food program providing free lunches. 6
• This increased summer need is seen by NTFB’s agencies, of which 54% report serving many more children in the summer.

 

Children’s Programs

IMPACT:

• More than 3,000 children in 60 schools receive backpacks of food each weekend through the Food 4 Kids program.
• It costs approximately $4 to provide a backpack of food to a child each weekend through Food 4 Kids.
• Through 23 Kids Cafes, NTFB provides 3,800 meals each week to 1,540 children.
• It costs $1 to provide one Kids Cafe meal.
• In 2006, 400 children were served daily at three Summer Food Service Program sites.

SHARE:
“A withdrawn little girl who came in every morning crying because she was tired and did not want to get up to come to school, now comes in smiling.  She has become more outspoken and assertive each morning, as she greets me with a smile and checks to be sure she and her siblings will get the [back] packs.  She wants them on Wednesday, so she is sure she won’t be missed on Friday.” – A Food 4 Kids School Coordinator

  “One of the third grade students comes by my office several times a week to make sure we are having Food 4 Kids.  It is one of the only dependable things in her life.” –A Food 4 Kids School Coordinator

  “Another student asked the teacher several times throughout the day if he could come see me.  He asked, “Are you going to give me food again?”  I answered, “Yes, every Friday.”  He came back again the same day to ask, “Are you sure you’re going to have enough food to give me some again?” Again, I answered yes.  A third time in the same day he asked, “When can I come and get my food from you?” I turned to his level and took his hand.  I gently squeezed and said, “As long as I can and you are in this school, I will give you this food every Friday.  All you have to do is be here.  He hugged me so hard I could hardly breathe.”-A Food 4 Kids School Coordinator

SERVE:

• Share the message – Tell a friend about the need and the NTFB.
• Share your talents – Volunteer at food distribution sites, events or at the warehouse.
• Sponsor a food drive – Host a traditional or virtual on-line food drive at work, or with you faith, school or civic group.
• Invite us to speak – To your civic, professional, school or faith group.

 

1 National Center for Children in Poverty; Demographics of Low-Income Children: Texas.  Federal Poverty Level for a family of four is $20,000.

2 Center for Public Policy Priorities; Hunger and Food Insecurity in Texas, 2003. A food insecure household is uncertain of having, or being unable to acquire, enough food for all household members because they have insufficient money and other resources for food.  U.S. Department of Agriculture; Household Food Security in the United States 2004.

3 Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas Comptroller; Winter 2001-1002 County Population Forecast. U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey 2004.

4 Center on Hunger and Poverty, Brandeis University; The Link Between Nutrition and Cognitive Development in Children, 1998.

5 Patrick H. Casey, MD, et al. Child Health-Related Quality of Life and Household Food Security. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 159 (2005): 51-56.

6 Mathematica Policy Research Inc.; Hunger in America 2006.

7 Ibid.