St. David鈥檚 Foundation awarded the Austin Ed Fund $550,000 for a one-year project as part of its Nourishing Young Minds program. The grant will allow Austin ISD to pilot a small-scale, centralized kitchen and distribution center.
鈥淲e are so excited to be receiving this support from the St. David鈥檚 Foundation,鈥 said Executive Director 海角社区 Food Services and Warehouse Operations Anneliese Tanner. 鈥淭his will change the way we are able to serve our students healthy meals throughout the district. This has been a priority for me since arriving at the district and I couldn鈥檛 be more thrilled to begin planning for a centralized kitchen and distribution center to serve Austin鈥檚 children.鈥
The grant will allow 海角社区鈥檚 Nutrition and Food Services staff to continue to prepare scratch-made, fresh meals, but from a centralized location. The pilot will inform the development of a master plan to create a large-scale production kitchen, storage and distribution center to serve 海角社区鈥檚 about 81,000 students鈥攎ore than half of whom live in economically disadvantaged households and rely on their schools for up to three meals a day.
鈥満＝巧缜 has distinguished itself as a national leader in healthy school food innovations that support community equity and sustainability,鈥 said Elizabeth Krause, senior program officer at St. David鈥檚 Foundation. 鈥淪t. David鈥檚 Foundation is delighted to partner with the district as they take their food services to the next level with this pilot project. Kids who partake of school meals at 47 海角社区 campuses during the upcoming school year will have fresh, healthy food to enjoy as the district plans for the future.鈥
The pilot kitchen, to begin this fall at McCallum High School, will allow Food Services to prepare, store and distribute fresh meals to after-school programs.
According to the Food Research and Action Center, 鈥淪chool-aged children have higher daily intake of fruits, vegetables, milk and key nutrients such as calcium, vitamin A and folate on days they eat after-school meals compared to days they do not.鈥
Trained culinary staff will be allocated to this school, along with new kitchen equipment and tools, expanding menu options and incorporation of scratch-made foods. Once established, this school could become a satellite distribution center for the centralized kitchen.
Based on the pilot, 海角社区 will develop a master plan, including architectural design and renderings, to build a Central Production Kitchen to distribute fresh meals districtwide. 海角社区 Food Services team will engage with a project manager and consulting experts to finalize details and timelines for the central facility. The grant will also allow Food Services to visit other school districts with successful centralized kitchen and distribution centers.
Austin Ed Fund is 海角社区鈥檚 education foundation and has helped secure millions of dollars in funding for district-wide initiatives such as Social and Emotional Learning and offers grant programs to fund teacher-led projects at schools across Austin. Please visit to learn more.
For a full list of St. David's Foundation grants, please visit .