Brighter Bites, the Houston-based nonprofit that provides families and teachers in underserved communities with fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education, received the RESULTS Houston Seeds of Hope Award, bestowed annually to an honoree who is making a meaningful impact in the work to end poverty.
Rich Dachman
Brighter Bites provides free fresh produce in underserved communities around the country with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites Co-founders Lisa Helfman and Shreela Sharma started the organization in Houston in 2012, providing fourth grade families at one elementary school with fresh produce, nutrition education, and a fun food experience when they picked up their produce each week. Since then, Brighter Bites has provided more than 24 million pounds of fresh produce and 100,000s of nutrition education materials to more than 50,000 families in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and southwest Florida.
“Brighter Bites is mission aligned with RESULTS in that we are all trying to empower families in need by planting ‘seeds of hope’ to improve their health and lives,” said Sharma, a professor of epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health. “We are greatly humbled and honored to receive this award.”
The Houston chapter of RESULTS, a non-partisan advocacy group that supports a movement of passionate, committed volunteers who use their voices to influence political decisions that will end poverty, typically gathers 150 people from the Houston area to attend a fundraising dinner the chapter has been hosting for close to 20 years. In past years, the featured speakers have included a range of individuals working to end poverty including Professor Muhammad Yunus. The 2019 speaker was William Moore, the executive director of the Eleanor Crook Foundation, which works on global nutrition.
“We are thrilled and grateful to receive this honor,” said Brighter Bites CEO Rich Dachman. “This prestigious award will further motivate us to continue to dedicate ourselves to getting produce into the homes of families who need it, teaching them how to use it, and helping improve their eating habits so they can lead healthier lives.”
Sharma and Dachman accepted the award on behalf of Brighter Bites at the gala Nov. 22 in Houston.
