On a brisk morning at the Jim Barbara Morefield Boys & Girls Club on Selinsky Road, the parking lot was full of cars long before the first box of produce was lifted from a truck.
Inside, volunteers and families lined up quietly, moving through the hall where tables of bread, salads, cold salads, fruits, and vegetables were arranged in neat rows.
For 65 families in Houston, this drive meant food on the table during the recent threats to federal SNAP benefits in the wake of the government shutdown. The free pop-up grocery store offered produce contributed by Second Servings, a nonprofit in Houston, in partnership with the Houston Independent School District’s Sunrise Centers.
“I got bread, eggs, milk, fruit, and water…I’m grateful. It’s gonna help me and my grandkids a great deal. My SNAP benefits have been cut completely.”
Ronita Pryor, a grandmother raising nine
“I got bread, eggs, milk, fruit, and water…I’m grateful,” said Ronita Pryor, a grandmother raising nine on the city’s southeast side. “It’s gonna help me and my grandkids a great deal. My SNAP benefits have been cut completely.”
Pryor said she visits “wherever they’re giving out food…at a bunch of YMCAs too.”
Along with her, dozens of families lined up that morning, many quietly juggling multiple jobs, caretaking duties, and dwindling resources.
Nationally, the end of pandemic-era food support has left millions struggling to adjust. Additionally, millions of Americans potentially face food insecurity due to delays in SNAP food assistance benefit payments. In November, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to make payments.
A model of dignity
While the need is urgent, the approach at Selinsky Road emphasizes dignity as much as aid.
“This food isn’t just heavy processed food, but a lot of good vegetables and produce that would otherwise be thrown away,” said Mel Perry, a first-time volunteer representing New Life Church and the nonprofit Loving Houston, which partners with HISD’s Sunrise Centers. “It’s given to people that really need it and a lot of families that may be struggling right now. You get to go and choose what you want, so you still feel like you’re shopping at a grocery store. It helped them feel the freedom to get the food they need, without feeling any shame.”
Volunteers helped families select everything from fresh bread to butternut squash, occasionally offering cooking tips along the way.
“I was sharing recipes and people were enjoying that. I think it made people feel very comfortable as well, trying to engage them and be personal with them,” Perry said. “ We let them know, ‘We’re all in a boat that we need one another and some of us are just a short step from needing the assistance.”
The event at the Boys & Girls Club is part of a growing network of food drives coordinated by local churches, schools and community groups. For many volunteers, it has become a weekly or monthly commitment.
HISD holds more such food distributions, the school district’s Director of Communications Lana Hill told the Defender.
- Sunrise Centers at Mission Milby, Youth Development Center, and Brock host weekly distributions and operate established food markets in partnership with the Houston Food Bank.
- The Sunrise Centers at the Morefield Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA.
- Orem holds food distributions once a month in partnership with Second Servings.
- Marian Park Community Center, HISD’s newest center, will open its Houston Food Bank Food Market in November.
“I’ve been doing this for almost a year now, going to different places,” said Jryshto Ramirez, one of the regular volunteers on-site who sees several come through.
For others, like Tiesha Gipson, the food distribution helps free up cash for other essentials.
“I don’t get food stamps, so almost every grocery I buy is with cash,” she said. “Coming here helps cut down on how much I spend on food every month.”
