FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Help End Food Insecurity in Irving ISD
A student who is hungry or who is worried about whether or not they will be able to eat tonight is a student who will struggle to learn. More than 75% of the Irving ISD population face food insecurity on a daily or frequent basis. The good news? Something can be done about it and people want to help. Donors and ISF volunteers provide more than 1,600 weekly food bags to IISD students. With your help, we’ll be able to sustain and grow this vital initiative together.
How it Started
It all stared when a middle school counselor voiced concern for a student who was struggling with schoolwork and behavior in class. He wasn’t where he needed to be with his studies and he’d lost a significant amount of weight. Turns out, he did not have enough to eat when he wasn’t at school. While the mission of Irving Schools Foundation is planted in educational opportunities, you can’t learn if you are hungry. It did not take long for ISF supporters to decide we’re not having it, and counselors began quietly counting how many at their schools needed help with food for the weekends. Bowie Middle School stepped up and offered a classroom. The walls were lined with shelves purchased by donors, and small pantry bins were brought in. Donated drawstring bags were gathered and we started figuring out where and how to get food on short notice. That last part was half action movie, half mystery thriller.
A group of volunteers showed up January 18, 2019 for the first build, filling more than 85 bags and distributing to counselors at seven campuses. By the next week, the number of bags and campuses had doubled. The school year ended with Travis Middle School having a donated storage room, new volunteers joining FFT, and more than 800 students being helped with their food insecurity.
And that boy from the beginning, the one who was getting in trouble and not doing well academically? He ended the schoolyear with no issues beyond a mild scolding for laughing too loudly and cutting up with his classmates in the hallway.
How it's Going (and How You Can Help)
Today, we are helping feed more than 1,700 students in IISD each week. A $7 donation will feed a student for an entire weekend.
Opportunities to support:
Host a food drive
Build food bags at the ISF Warehouse
Serve on the FFT committee
Make a financial contribution to purchase food
Sponsor the plastic bags in which weekly food is distributed
How Food for Thought Works
During the school year, Irving Schools Foundation provides 1,700 food bags each week to 35 Irving campuses, which in turn distribute the food bags to students who have been identified as at-risk for food insecurity, or who have asked for help.
Each food bag contains shelf-stable food items that can be used to prepare 2 meals for a family of 4 for $7.
Examples for food currently: chili, soup, pasta, mac n cheese, rice, canned fruits and vegetables, canned beans, canned tomatoes, canned chicken and tuna, ramen.
All food bags are assembled by Irving School Foundation volunteers, using donated food items or items purchased with cash donations earmarked for Food for Thought.
Donation Guidelines:
$5
$50
Provide 70 meals for 10 students
$100
Provide 100 meals for 20 students
$700
Provide 700 meals for 100 students
How to Help
There are three ways you can support Food for Thought:
Don’t have time to shop, or not in a position to volunteer? You can still help! Just make a quick online contribution in support of Food for Thought—we’ll use your gift to purchase nutritious food items for students at risk for hunger.
