The Prem Rawat Foundation Funds Healthy Meals at Houston's Kids Café

Press release

Los Angeles, January, 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a grant to the Houston Food Bank (HFB) to provide more than 80,000 meals this coming year and nutritional training to poor at-risk youngsters who take part in the food bank’s Kids Café program. This is TPRF’s second collaboration with HFB. They first worked together to bring food and shelter to people displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Mr. Brian Greene, president and CEO of HFB, expressed his appreciation for TPRF’s contribution saying, “Please convey my appreciation to all who made this gift possible. It will help ensure that hundreds of children receive a nutritious hot meal each day, as well as the health and education necessary to help them grow into healthy, happy adults.”

HFB operates six Kids Cafés that serve over 7,000 meals and snacks each month to Houston area low-income children aged 8-18 who attend various Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston (BGCGH). In line with one of HFB’s fundamental objectives—to address hunger as both a cause and symptom of poverty—Kids Café serves healthy meals and also teaches area youth the benefits of maintaining a healthy diet and incorporating exercise into daily activities. Meals are served in all six Kids Café locations Monday through Friday, and snacks are served on Fridays.

Classes on nutrition are also offered weekly. Organizers enlist the help of volunteer chefs and nutrition professionals to offer hands-on, kid-friendly activities in addition to serving balanced meals. Three to four times a month, the Kids Café agenda includes courses covering nutrition, food safety and fitness.

In addition to providing food and education on nutrition, HFB measures and examines key internal metrics on a monthly basis to improve efficiency and performance. The assessment tools were developed in partnership with Texas A&M University and staff dieticians.

HFB is the fifth largest food bank in the United States and a member of America's Second Harvest (A2H) - The Nation's Food Bank Network. Kids Cafés are part of a broader HFB thrust that involves the distribution of more than 35 million pounds of food annually through 400 hunger-relief agencies in Houston and southeast Texas. These member agencies include food pantries, shelters for the homeless, safe havens for battered women and nutrition centers for children and the elderly. About 80,000 people are served each week throughout an 18-county service area. Every dollar donated to the food bank is converted into $8 worth of food––enough to feed a family of four.

(Photos courtesy of the Houston Food Bank)

TPRF advances the internationally acclaimed message of peace of Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji. In addition, it helps provide the necessities of life for people most in need. The Foundation often partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and disaster relief rapidly where it is most required.

Discover more about Prem Rawat, his message of hope and peace, and the humanitarian activities of The Prem Rawat Foundation