SAN ANTONIO – Brighter Bites, a national nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, announces the launch of its tenth location in San Antonio, Texas. This semester, Brighter Bites will serve six schools within Harlandale ISD, which will directly impact around 720 families and provide 115,200 pounds of fresh produce to its participants.
“I’m so excited our students will be able to receive a hands-on experience of what healthy choices actually look like,” said Juan Aguilar, physical educator at Harlandale ISD. “With the launch of Brighter Bites programming, the kids will be able to try new vegetables and fruits that they normally wouldn’t have access to on a regular basis. It is my hope this will also help families ease their food expenses, as prices of groceries have increased dramatically within the last year.”
The first distribution in San Antonio began last week and will continue each week through the end of May. Brighter Bites plans to further expand its reach into more schools within the Harlandale school district for the fall semester. The generous support and partnership from Harlandale ISD and Student Health Advisory Committee, UnitedHealthcare, and FreshPoint San Antonio have made this expansion possible.
“At Carroll Bell Elementary, we have a strong, long-standing bond with our school families and the surrounding community,” said Harlandale ISD Physical Educator, Scott Albach. “Through our health education curriculum, students and families receive great health information and resources but sometimes making those connections requires something more. Brighter Bites is giving our community the tools to experience making healthy choices, the experience of fresh and new fruits and vegetables, and the experience of a family coming together to cook, eat and share a meal.”
To learn more about Brighter Bites, or how to volunteer or partner in San Antonio, visit brighterbites.org, or follow the organization on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, or YouTube.
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About Brighter Bites:
Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites is an evidence-based, multi-component elementary school, preschool, and summer camp program that utilizes reliable access to fruits and vegetables, nutrition education, and consistent exposure to recipes and messages that feature fresh food. Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided over 50 million pounds of produce and millions of nutrition education materials to more than 500,000 individuals (including teachers) in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, Southwest Florida, Salinas, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, and San Antonio. To learn more about Brighter Bites visit www.brighterbites.org.
