Brighter Bites Celebrates 10th Year; Lisa Helfman Tells All
HOUSTON, TX - Ten years is a major milestone worth celebrating, and Brighter Bites is the latest organization to join the club. The nonprofit is celebrating its 10th year of helping under-resourced communities throughout the United States.
“During this upcoming school year, we’re expected to deliver over 9 million pounds of produce, impacting almost 28,800 families,” said Lisa Helfman, Co-Founder of Brighter Bites. “We are beyond grateful to all of our fresh produce partners, volunteers, and donors who have made the last 10 years possible, and we look forward to many more to come!”
Since its founding in 2012, Brighter Bites has shared over 50 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education to more than 500,000 individuals across all communities it serves, including: Houston, Dallas, and Austin, Texas; New York City; Washington, DC; Southwest Florida; and Salinas, Los Angeles, and Bakersfield, California.
“The need for increasing access to fresh food and nutrition education to students and their families in under-resourced areas is monumental, and Brighter Bites plans to continue to improve programming to meet those needs,” continued Helfman. “We expect to grow to at least two more cities in 2023 and anticipate keeping this momentum for the next 10 years and beyond.”
In 2021 alone, the organization distributed over 5 million pounds of produce in seven metro areas and taught 53,984 nutrition education lessons and activities in classrooms. Brighter Bites also received over $11 million from in-kind produce donations, surpassing the $8 million mark in 2020.
According to the release, Brighter Bites will also be hosting a back-to-school fundraising campaign with a goal of reaching $500,000 to create more equitable communities that foster healthy minds and bodies.
Congratulations on this amazing milestone!