9TH ANNUAL HOUSTON AREA BASKET BRIGADE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS AND EXPANSION

Houston Area Basket Brigade

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: info@htxbasketbrigade.com 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

11.06.2023

9TH ANNUAL HOUSTON AREA BASKET BRIGADE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS AND EXPANSION

What started as a little weekend project, in which James McDonough and Michael Schellinger organized a few motivated friends to build a handful of baskets anonymously for families in need, has grown into an amazing endeavor with a roadmap to incredible growth.  

We have strengthened relationships with two entities that will allow us to better serve our community and provide our donors with the opportunity to have a tax-deductible donation. 

• A strengthening of an initiative started last year has taken us to the next level of reaching the right people.  The HISD wraparound program identifies children who have financial struggles and would benefit from our random act of kindness.  The leaders of this organization are on the front lines of identifying kids in need. “The holidays are especially difficult for these families facing food insecurity. Food is a constant topic at school around Thanksgiving and we hope to create a little bit of normalcy in these children’s lives by ensuring that they get all the ingredients needed for your traditional Thanksgiving meal” said Liz Coleman, Community Outreach Director of Houston Basket Brigade. 

• • • In 2022 the Houston Basket Brigade committed to helping one HISD school by getting Thanksgiving baskets to 20 families in the wraparound program. 

• • • This year the Houston Basket Brigade is committed to providing roughly 300 Thanksgiving baskets to families identified by HISD Wraparound Services – North Division which consists of 13 different schools. 
• An alignment with Second Servings has given us the ability to have donations to their organization made available to our cause.  This means that larger donors can have a receipt for their donation and handle it accordingly with their accounting.  It also allows us to align our cause. Second Servings has a mission of fighting hunger and ending waste.  They already facilitate a fantastic outreach to our community to help feed those in need and in addition to helping our organization reach the next level of fundraising infrastructure, they can help us target and execute our efforts to those who need it most.  
  • To hit our goal we need $9,000 in donations. To donate through this 501c3 charity you can visit this site https://secure.qgiv.com/for/basketbrigade your donation will produce a receipt with Second Servings information including tax ID. 

“The grassroots nature of our organization has always allowed us to have unparalleled direct impact in our local community. As we have grown it's been difficult to balance that grassroots feel with the efficiency of a larger organization. These two developments take an incredible weight off of our shoulders, Second Servings gives us new tools to grow and the wraparound specialist gives us new families to help out. We now have the best of both worlds!”- Michael Schellinger co-founder of the Houston Area Basket Brigade. 

Details for this year of events are listed below and with these new developments, we truly can take donations and turn them into Thanksgiving meals to feed families in need.  Our goal is to feed 300+ families and our commitment to the HISD system is firm, we need your help! 

When: Nov 18th starting at 9:30 AM CST

Where: McIntyre’s Downtown

             901 Commerce St, Houston TX 77002

             Parking available on-site

What: Show up to assemble baskets! 

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ABOUT The Houston Area Basket Brigade is a group of people who get together with the goal of feeding families in need through a random act of kindness. We take donations and turn them into a basket filled with everything needed to provide a Thanksgiving meal, delivered anonymously to the people who need it most.   

For more information about our organization and to see the great work we've done over the years visit HTXBasketBrigade.com or email us at info@htxbasketbrigade.com