“One in six people in North Texas battle food insecurity daily,” says Trisha Cunningham, president and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB). After learning of this alarming statistic and the 800,000 lives affected by food insecurity, four high school culinary programs were motivated to make a difference. Students from Arlington ISD’s Dan Dipert Career + Technical Center, The Colony High School, Dr. John D. Horn High School and Allen High School teamed up with Dairy MAX and the Dallas Cowboys to help eradicate food insecurity in their community.
As part of the culinary programs’ partnership with Dairy MAX and the Dallas Cowboys, the students volunteered to prepare food boxes for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) to help a segment of the community that often gets overlooked: senior citizens. The harsh reality is that senior citizens frequently make the difficult decision of buying food or paying for their medication, a choice no one should have to make. Thanks to these high school students, Dairy MAX and the Dallas Cowboys’ contributions to the food bank, seniors in the North Texas community will receive 128 pounds of nutritionally balanced food boxes filled with both shelf-stable (aseptic) and dry milk this year.
Dallas Cowboys’ safety Kavon Frazier came to the North Texas Food Bank to commend the students on the work they did to positively impact the people in their community. Kavon went on to share the story of his family’s battle with food insecurity.
“What you all did today is really helping people. Growing up in Michigan, that’s how my family ate – we received boxes of food from the food bank. So, what you all did today is really going to make a difference in someone’s life,” said Kavon.
Want to join the charge and combat food insecurity in your community? Participate in The Great American Milk Drive, a nationwide program created by dairy farmers that allows you to donate milk to your local food bank, or call your local food pantry to see how they prefer to receive donations of milk.
