Since the summer of 2015, Brighter Bites has been hard at work creating communities of health in Austin, TX. Learn how the Austin team has embraced the city’s start-up culture to spread our passion for produce across town.
At an Austin, TX, Brighter Bites produce bagging, there is rarely a shortage of volunteers, laughter, and dancing. One special volunteer, Jackie from Metz Elementary, shows up week after week, bringing bounds of joy and her friends! Jackie never fails to make everyone laugh by balancing produce on her head – even while dancing to cumbia!
Volunteer Superstar Jackie Perez
Metz bagging would not be the same without Jackie, and we thank her for all she has done for the community!
Volunteer Jackie Perez (R) always ensures there are plenty of smiles at Brighter Bites baggings
Our program is also indebted to the incredible school administrators and staff, especially principals, assistant principals, and parent support specialists, who are dedicated to serving the kids and parents that make up their school communities by ensuring that Brighter Bites is implemented smoothly into all aspects of the school.
A special parent support specialist, Ms. Resendiz from Pecan Springs Elementary, is quite the Brighter Bites superstar! From week one she thought up innovative ways to support the program throughout the school, including creating specific signage to help organize family pick up lines and also had the idea to film a bagging time lapse.
Ms. Resendiz with one of her many contributions to Brighter Bites…her distribution signage!
Ms. Resendiz always shows up with a smile on her face to makes all the volunteers and Brighter Bites staff feel welcome.
Volunteers at Pecan Springs Elementary
Principal Mull and Assistant Principal Peralez-Hernandez at Wooldridge Elementary are another set of staff superstars! They each set a wonderful example of the power of supportive administration by getting fellow faculty involved and always announcing the daily Brighter Bites message. Both Principal Mull and Assistant Principal Peralez-Hernandez make a point to stop by each week at bagging or distribution and have even helped get their students involved!
A Woolridge student lends a helping hand
Each week they select five to ten third through fifth grade students to come help us with the bagging process. We are so in love with all that these ladies have done for our program!
Volunteers at Woolridge celebrate another successful bagging
We also want to give a shout out to Morgan Berry, a Boys and Girls Club coordinator at Cook Elementary. Morgan goes above and beyond each week to ensure all her students try the Brighter Bites snack and sets up a microphone so we can discuss the weekly nutrition education topic with the students. Morgan has been a tremendous help in making sure all her students are properly signed up to participate and continuously pick up their bags, even if they join the school half way through the season.
Smiling volunteers at Cook Elementary
Join us in celebrating these wonderful superstars who help the Brighter Bites Austin program shine. Find out how you can volunteer at a Brighter Bites program near you.
Since the summer of 2015, Brighter Bites has been hard at work creating communities of health in Austin, TX, the third city introduced to our research-backed formula of produce distribution, nutrition education, and a fun food experience. We started out our program in 10 South Austin schools and currently serve 2,400 families in 12 schools. We’re excited to be expanding our program to 15 schools in North Austin this coming fall!
Fitting with the start-up culture of Austin, the Austin programming team has fearlessly piloted new Brighter Bites strategies and experimented with new ways of thinking about our model to improve various components of the programming experience. The team, led by Program Director Maggie Mangrum, has incubated an innovative culture, using each semester and school year as an opportunity to improve our connection to our families and enhance our community impact. The team is small and accomplishes a lot! You can meet the fantastic ladies behind Brighter Bites Austin here.
Brighter Bites Austin staff members pose amongst bags full of produce
We count ourselves lucky to operate in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), which has adopted a progressive health and wellness curriculum. AISD’s Nutrition Services Department is creative, health focused, and sustainability driven, and communicates messaging about health throughout the school year even after our program season ends.
Our primary partners in Austin are Hardie’s Fresh Foods and FreshPoint South Texas. You can learn how each contributes to our program here. Their partnership has helped us expand to new communities in North and East Austin.
Students prepared a special thank you to our partner Hardie’s Fresh Foods
The move to these new Austin communities has required us to build relationships with local neighborhoods so that we can develop the trust, credibility, and commitment necessary for our program to thrive. The staff, parents, and community members of the schools where we operate always go above and beyond to welcome us into their schools and give us the volunteer and in-class support the program needs. We could never pull off our program without them. You can read about a few of our volunteer and staff superstars here.
A mom and her daughter celebrate a successful season of volunteering with Brighter Bites!
The Brighter Bites Austin team has so much fun sharing office space with our friends at Farmhouse Delivery, a sustainability-focused and community-centered company that provides local produce and grocery delivery and a fantastic meal kit service. Our team began renting office and kitchen space from Farmhouse Delivery in August 2017, and we love our little nook in the main office area, where we get to interact with the kind and inclusive Farmhouse Delivery staff every day.
The Brighter Bites Austin office space at Farmhouse Delivery
Farmhouse is always offering us delicious samples of the recipes they send to the customers of Farmhouse meal kits and have donated produce to our weekly recipe prep.
The Brighter Bites team poses with some of our Farmhouse Delivery friends in the Farmhouse kitchen.
We whip up our fun food experience snack samples in the Farmhouse Delivery commercial kitchen, where we’ve become fast friends with the kitchen and warehouse staff. This past winter, Farmhouse’s Warehouse Manager Manny Moreno packaged bundles of Farmhouse’s fresh fruit and vegetables to give to a music class from one of our elementary schools, which came to the Farmhouse warehouse to sing holiday carols. We’re so lucky to work next to such a warm and welcoming company and team.
Brighter Bites staff and volunteers engage students in our ‘Fun Food Experience’
You can find Brighter Bites this summer at six Austin locations: Turner Roberts Rec Center, Gus Garcia Rec Center, Forbes CDC, Andy Roddick Foundation’s Summer Learning Programs at Harris Elementary and at Hart Elementary, and Wooten Elementary’s ACE program. Find out how you can volunteer with Brighter Bites here.
Special thanks to Program Director Maggie Mangrum and Program Manager Bethany Dawson for their contributions to this article.
In Austin, TX we have a small but committed team working together to create communities of health through fresh food.
Brighter Bites Austin staff: L to R Bethany, Jamela, Shelby, Victoria, Veronica, Maggie, Lori, Wendy, Rebeca
The team is led by Program Director Maggie Mangrum, MPH, who has been with Brighter Bites since January 2016. Maggie has led our growth across Austin and forged many new friendships and partnerships with organizations and produce providers across the city. We’re so lucky to have her leadership!
Program Manager Bethany Dawson (L) and Program Director Maggie Mangrum (R)
Bethany Dawson, MPH, has been with Brighter Bites since its first Austin season in the summer of 2015. Bethany moved into her current role a year and a half ago as program manager and additionally manages our internship and volunteer programs. We’re so grateful for all the hard work Bethany has contributed over the years to introduce our program to as many new helpers as we can!
We’re fortunate to have a team of three dedicated program coordinators who together help us create communities of health in all our schools.
Program Associate Veronica Cabrera, Program Coordinator Shelby Koebley, and Intern Victoria Neeranjan (L to R) show off some brightly colored produce!
Shelby Koebley is our most senior program coordinator and leads the Austin “Fun Food Experience”. Shelby joined Brighter Bites around the same time that we moved into our current work space with Farmhouse Delivery and as our kitchen manager has helped foster our great friendship with Farmhouse’s kitchen and warehouse staff.
Program Coordinator Rebeca Hernandez Gonzalez (center), posing with Program Associate Lori Hoadley (L) and Intern Wendy Snowden (R) during “Do the Hula Salsa” week.
Rebeca Hernandez Gonzalez, RDN, was first introduced to Brighter Bites as a dietetic intern in the summer of 2017 and joined the team full time as a program coordinator in the summer of 2018 after graduating with her RDN. Rebeca currently uses her expertise to serve as our nutrition education coordinator.
L to R: Program Coordinator Rebeca Hernandez Gonzalez, Intern Wendy Snowden, Program Coordinator Jamala Mavrakis, and Program Associate Lori Hoadley
Jamela Mavrakis joined Brighter Bites in December of 2018 as a program coordinator and has quickly become an invaluable member of the team by coordinating the Austin volunteer experience as well as leading the new schools that joined Brighter Bites this past spring!
We are incredibly grateful for our three amazing program associates who support our coordinators across the city.
Program Associate Lori Hoadley
Lori Hoadley joined the team with a background in customer service and great experience with conflict resolution that has had a wonderfully calming effect on the team and on our volunteers! Lori will join us this summer and next school year, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her on board for another season.
L to R: Veronica Cabrera, Shelby Koebley, Lori Hoadley
Veronica Cabrera was introduced to Brighter Bites in the summer of 2018 as a counselor at one of our summer sites. As a former classmate of Rebeca, Veronica connected with the program and joined our staff that fall. She makes such a positive impact on the volunteers and kids at our schools, and we’re so excited that she’ll be joining us again for programming in the 2019/2020 school year.
The Austin staff simulating a distribution. L to R: Shelby Koebley, Maggie Whittington, Rebeca Hernandez Gonzalez, Veronica Cabrera, & Mari Garza-Aguirre
Mari Garza-Aguirre was an amazing associate who worked with us last fall. Mari’s experience mentoring youth through the Gus Garcia Recreation Center, which coincidentally is one of our new program sites this summer, added a unique perspective to our team.
Our Austin team was also supported this past year by three fieldwork interns. We hope our interns enjoyed their experience as much as we enjoyed having them on our team!
Intern Wendy Snowden
Wendy Snowden, a biology and nutrition student at UT Austin, has been interning with Brighter Bites since June 2018 and has been absolutely wonderful in the field with our families. This spring, her research project was to gather recipe ideas from families to support the improvement of our recipe development and recipe bank.
Intern Victoria Neeranjan
Victoria Neeranjan joined our internship program last fall to complete her degree in nutrition from Texas State University. Even though she graduated in December, we’re so appreciative that Victoria stayed on with Brighter Bites throughout the spring as well! Victoria has worked to improve our collection of nutrition games that makes up a portion of our signature “Fun Food Experience”.
Intern Carolyn Haskins
Carolyn Haskins interned with Brighter Bites last fall to gain experience with a nutrition nonprofit during her last semester of graduate school at Texas State University, where she graduated with a Master of Science in Nutrition. Carolyn earned the trust of our students and parents alike and was a pro at encouraging students to try our produce-packed recipes each week!
Director of Marketing and Communications Stefanie Cousins
The Brighter Bites Austin team wouldn’t be complete without Director of Marketing and Communications Stefanie Cousins, MPH. While a member of the national team that headquarters in Houston, Stefanie offices with the programming team in Austin at the Farmhouse Delivery office space, often joined by her new pup Daisy. Stefanie is a one-woman show, overseeing all corporate communications, strategic marketing, and branding for Brighter Bites across the country. Fun fact: Stefanie launched the Brighter Bites program in Austin in the summer of 2015. The Austin team wouldn’t be complete without her!
Thanks again to all the wonderful ladies who’ve helped make Brighter Bites a success in Austin, TX!
Our primary partners in Austin are Hardie’s Fresh Foods and FreshPoint South Texas.
The Austin team tours a Hardie’s facility.
Hardie’s Fresh Foods, a for-profit produce distribution company, provides the operations support for the Austin program. They donate time, energy, and resources to help our program run each week. Hardie’s employees from various departments help us purchase, receive, and store produce in their warehouse and then build pallets and deliver all of the produce to our schools. Hardie’s Fresh Foods continues to play an integral part in the success and expansion of our program in Austin.
Hardie’s employee Jose helps position his truck to unload produce for a Brighter Bites bagging
FreshPoint South Texas provides support with sourcing and delivering produce from Mann Packing, Church Brothers, Pure Flavor, and Potandon, among others, each week. Working with FreshPoint South Texas has allowed us to increase the variety of produce in our bags and even work with local Texas farmers from time to time!
A student at Jordan Elementary holds the Caulilini donated by produce company Mann Packing.
This past year, Brighter Bites Austin took on the challenge of entering 10 new schools in addition to returning to two existing schools. As such, the teamwork of school principals, parent support specialists, and teachers became another one of our essential partnerships that played a huge role in the success of our programming. We are consistently blown away by the support and energy of the individuals leading and educating Austin’s youth! Learn about some of our staff and volunteer superstars here.
Volunteers gather for a group photo at Jordan Elementary, one of our new spring 2019 sites.
Of course, Austin’s great success this year is also due in large part to our dynamic team. You can learn all about the fantastic ladies who help the program shine in Austin in our special staff spotlight.
The Austin team pauses during a team meeting to a snap a pic.
We are so grateful to our incredible partners who generously support the Brighter Bites program in Austin, TX: Hardie’s Fresh Foods, FreshPoint South Texas, St. David’s Foundation, Walmart, and Target, among others. Sending a special thank you for all of our partners’ great generosity and support!
Students at Wooldridge Elementary prepared thank you posters for our partner Hardie’s Fresh Foods.
March 12 was a banner day for Brighter Bites in Austin, TX! We kicked off the morning bagging produce at a Brighter Bites elementary school alongside First Lady of Texas Cecilia Abbott and a large group of family members from the current Texas Legislature. Next, we stopped by the Texas Capitol to receive special recognition on the House floor. Finally, we wrapped up the day speaking at SXSW. Our hearts are full! Read more about each event below!
On March 12, family members of current Texas legislators joined Brighter Bites at Cook Elementary School in Austin, TX to volunteer at a produce bagging. We couldn’t be more humbled by the turnout of 19 adults and 34 children (ages three month to 17 years)! Special guests included First Lady of Texas Cecilia Abbott, Kim Bonnen, and many others, who worked together to build 190 sets of bags for Cook Elementary School families and teachers to take home and enjoy. Check out photos of our amazing helpers below!
Explore photos from Brighter Bites programs across the country as we celebrated our Spring 2019 Avocado Week. Holy guacamole, do we have some great snaps!
Special thanks to Avocados From Mexico and Del Monte Fresh!
Pamela Riemenschneider (Produce with Pamela) visited a Brighter Bites site at a local elementary in Austin, Texas. She wanted the chance to see just what Brighter Bites is about and she was not disappointed. Check out what she has to say here!
Brighter Bites is thrilled to be one of the 28 nominees for this year’s Aspirin Social Innovation Award, which honors disruptive impact innovations in health and nutrition from around the world. We need your vote to move on to the final pitch competition in Berlin, Germany.