A Brighter Future for Houston: A Post-Harvey Message

What a week, friends….

As you all know too well, the City of Houston was transformed last week by a natural disaster the likes of which no one has ever seen in the U.S. The images on television, in newspapers, and on social media are all too true, and the damage here on the ground is shocking.

While Brighter Bites Houston staff members were unable to begin regularly scheduled programming in schools because of city-wide closures, they were hard at work, along with our founders, volunteering throughout the city, lending a hand wherever needed for countless hours all week:

• Houston Program Director Emily Kelley sorted items for disaster relief in the Houston Food Bank’s carousel room.
• Senior Program Director Mike Pomeroy and Program Coordinator Michael Crawford helped evacuate friends and family who experienced flood damage in their homes and clean up when it was safe to return.
• Culinary Education Manager Christina Blick and Program Coordinators Lani Alcazar and Toni Oplt served hot meals at a day camp for the children of Harvey victims at Congregation Emanu El.
• Executive Director Sam Newman evacuated friends and sorted clothes at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church.
• Founder Lisa Helfman worked with her employer, Texas-based grocery company H-E-B, at the George R. Brown Convention Center and NRG Stadium, as well as behind the scenes, to deliver food and other grocery items to those in need.
• Co-founder Shreela Sharma volunteered with the City of Houston Health Department to conduct nightly rapid health assessments at the George R. Brown Convention Center, helped clean up the homes of family and friends, prepared meal trains, and coordinated fundraisers for those in need.

The relief and recovery effort is still continuing this week. The American Red Cross, Houston Food Bank, H-E-B, and so many others are working to relieve the pain of the disaster and help return Houston to normal, albeit a new normal.

Some of the water has receded and the Brighter Bites Houston team is back at the office this week. The staff is looking forward to starting up programming soon. This week we are connecting with principals and other school leaders to understand what they and their families need, and if we need to shift our program delivery temporarily to meet these needs.

Above all, our number one goal is to put our families first. Brighter Bites, like the great city of Houston, will adapt our resources, to make sure we are supporting the needs of our children and their parents through our continued focus on bringing nutritious resources to the community.

Our home city is resilient and we are here for its rebuilding with Brighter Bites or helping hands for the 2017-2018 academic year and beyond.