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ROTARY GRANT - 2025
Community Outreach
NEEDS:
Texas leads the nation in food insecurity with a rate of 16%, or approximately 5 million Texans facing hunger (Feeding America, 2024). In 2022, the child food insecurity rate in Texas was 23%, 4% higher than the national child food insecurity rate (Feeding America, 2024). In the spring of 2024, Feeding America projected that the child food insecurity rate in Texas was 23%, an increase of 5% since 2021. Across Denton County, one in six children, or 16% of the child population, suffered from food insecurity in 2022. In the same year, among the 34,320 food-insecure children in Denton County, 56% were unlikely to be eligible for federal nutrition programs (Feeding America, 2024).
The Lewisville Independent School District's Central Zone feeder pattern culminates with the following three high schools: Lewisville High School, Killough High School, and Harmon High School. The following schools feed into these high schools: Durham Middle School, DeLay Middle School, Hedrick Middle School, Huffines Middle School, Degan Elementary School, Lewisville Elementary School, and Southridge Elementary School. Among these ten campuses, an average of 77% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch during the 2024-2025 school year, indicating that their families were economically disadvantaged. With poverty also comes the crisis of food instability, extreme mobility, and malnutrition. Responsive ED has two campuses with food pantries that provide food supplies to their campus for those with food insecurities.
According to a study examining the association of food insecurity with children's behavioral, emotional, and academic outcomes, "household food insecurity, even at marginal levels, identified by a variety of measures, is associated with children's behavioral, academic, and emotional problems beginning as early as infancy" (Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2017). More specifically, in school-aged children, food insecurity is associated with "impaired academic performance, increased hyperactivity, inattention, aggressive behavior, missing school, borderline emotional problems, less adaptive interpersonal relations, self-control and approaches to learning, more internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and greater likelihood of having seen a psychologist" (Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2017). There were further associations between adolescents experiencing food insecurity and "seeing a counselor, suspension from school, difficulty getting along with others, and substance use disorders" (Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 2017). Food insecurity, as well as the issues that follow, serve as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). When left unaddressed, ACEs can "compromise cognitive and noncognitive emotional skills in children, decreasing likelihood of school success" (NJ Funders, 2019).
The Lewisville Noon Rotary partners with local agencies, such as Communities In Schools of North Texas, and Responsive ED to bring light to food insecurity in the Lewisville community and exemplify service above self by helping alleviate this need and providing healthy food to students affected by food insecurity.
MEETING THE NEEDS:
With funding from the Rotary Foundation, the Lewisville Noon Rotary will work closely with the Lewisville Independent School District and Communities In Schools (CIS) of North Texas to provide a food pantry during the 2025-2026 school year to ten high-need campuses. The school campuses will include Lewisville High School, Harmon High School, Killough High School, Hedrick Middle School, Durham Middle School, Delay Middle School, Huffines Middle School, Degan Elementary School, Lewisville Elementary School, and Southridge Elementary School. Through Rotary Foundation grants and Rotarian support, we will be able to buy food for the pantries for students to have during the day and on weekends.
These community outreach funds will help keep our kids fed and support their health, enabling them to stay in school and pursue their education.
TIMELINE:
As soon as funding is approved, Lewisville Noon Rotary will purchase the food, hygiene items, basic needs items, storage shelves, storage boxes, bags, and supplies to organize and/or re-stock the pantries. In general, the timeline of services provided to students aligns with the school calendar, with enrollment and initial services typically occurring during August and September, and continuing services extending through May of the following year.
HOW PROJECT FUNDS WILL BE SPENT:
Funding from the Rotary Foundation will be spent on essential items for the Rotary Food Pantries at Responsive ED campuses, Lewisville High School, Killough High School, Harmon High School, Durham Middle School, Hedrick Middle School, DeLay Middle School, Huffines Middle School, Degan Elementary, Lewisville Elementary, and Southridge Elementary. Items that will be purchased include:
• Healthy, self-serve foods, meals, and snacks. (This may also include gift cards for groceries and longer-term food needs for homeless and transient students.)
• Hygiene items and basic needs items such as deodorant, toothbrushes/paste, facewash, sanitary napkins, soap, latex or rubber gloves, sanitizer, and wipes for food safety and other needs as determined by the assessment of the school staff and CIS Site Coordinator.
• Storage unit, shelving, and bins to safely and sanitarily store food.
• Bags for daily and weekend food packs.
• Office supplies, such as signs and labels, to organize the pantry.
INVOLVEMENT OF CLUB MEMBERS:
We believe that the success of any project rides on the follow-through. The Lewisville Noon Rotary Club members will be involved in purchasing food, shelving, and supplies, packing daily and weekend food bags, and organizing and setting up the food pantry, both initially and on a regular basis. Our goal is to achieve at least 100 hours of Rotarian service to the Rotary pantries by the end of May 2026.
Rotarians will also be heavily involved in the follow-up services required to ensure student success by partnering with each school campus and local nonprofits, such as Communities In Schools of North Texas. Rotarians will be encouraged to serve throughout the year in the following roles:
• Mentors, who meet with students once a week to discuss student progress and to provide encouragement, build self-esteem, and set future goals.
• Academic Coaches, who meet with students as needed to work on core subjects such as Math, English, Social Studies, and Science.
• Career Presenters, who come to school campuses to talk to groups of students about careers that interest them. Students will have the opportunity to discuss their questions with the presenter one-to-one following the presentation.
The provision of basic resources, which are critical to students' health and wellness, will empower students with the tools to succeed in and outside of the classroom. The long-term impact of a successful education is our goal, and it will be key for students to break the cycle of poverty and reach their full potential in life.
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