Houston non-profit opens new facility to provide more meals to children in need amid SNAP concerns
This new facility is set to triple the number of meals provided to Houston's children in need, expanding from 10,000 to a potential 26,000 meals a day by 2031.
A nonprofit in Houston is stepping up in a major way, and just on time.
Kids’ Meals has officially opened its new headquarters in Spring Branch, a facility built to triple the number of meals it can provide to children living in poverty.
The new 50,000-square-foot campus, donated by ExxonMobil, is located off Hammerly Boulevard. It’s designed to help Kids’ Meals expand from serving about 10,000 free, healthy meals each weekday to up to 26,000 meals a day by 2031.
Outside the building, visitors are greeted by a “brown bag” installation, a symbol of the same paper bags filled with food that volunteers deliver to children’s homes across Houston.
“This facility has been a dream since 2021,” said Beth Harp, CEO of Kids’ Meals. “When the pandemic hit, we realized we were serving 3,200 preschool-aged hungry children, and the numbers doubled in more than two weeks to 7,600 children, and we knew we had to expand.”
Kids’ Meals is the only program in the nation that delivers free, healthy meals directly to the doors of preschool-aged children living in poverty, no questions asked.
The expansion comes at a critical time.
Thousands of Texas families could lose SNAP benefits if Congress fails to reach a deal to prevent a government shutdown by Nov.1.
If lawmakers do not approve a spending plan, SNAP funding would lapse, cutting off food assistance for millions of low-income households nationwide. In Texas alone, more than 3.6 million residents rely on SNAP to help buy groceries.
Local organizations like Kids’ Meals and the Houston Food Bank are preparing for a surge in demand if those benefits are interrupted. The Houston Food Bank estimates it could need to help 15,000 families weekly who would be affected by the cuts.
