To address youth food insecurity, one local nonprofit chooses to remain invisible. That may mean delivering meal kits directly to schools each week, distributing snacks, or sourcing fresh produce – all completed by volunteers who come in and out, anonymous to the students they serve.
The crisis they’re tackling is sometimes seen as invisible, too. When students head home for the weekend, some have little to no access to food, said Hope Austin founder and Executive Director Monica von Waaden.
“We’re an organization that feeds hungry children, and we always are mindful of preserving dignity and respect,” von Waaden said. “Being anonymous to us, is part of how we operate.”
Established in 2016, the North Austin-based nonprofit first began by delivering meal kits to help a small group of middle school students in Round Rock ISD facing weekend food insecurity. This year, the nonprofit serves approximately 5,200 students per week in 117 different schools across Central Texas with a variety of different services, von Waaden said.
Hope Austin works with five schools in Austin ISD this year, including Hill, Padron, Wooldridge, and Wooten elementary schools, and Burnet Middle School. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch under federal income requirements are a baseline, but the organization serves students who may not meet these conditions and experience food insecurity at different points of the school year, she said.
Karen Esparza has volunteered with the organization since 2016, delivering meal kits for Austin ISD schools. Over the years, she said food insecurity has become more significant across schools in the area. In Travis County, the food insecurity rate among children is 22.9%, according to the Central Texas Food Bank.
“These are our kids,” Esparza said. “This is the future of the Austin area. I just feel a responsibility to do what I can to give them the support that they need, especially during these trying times.”
Hope Austin maintains close relationships with school administrators, counselors, and social workers with Communities in Schools of Central Texas to tailor their resources for individual campuses. Marivel Gamez, a program manager for CIS, has helped facilitate the partnership between Hope Austin and Wooten Elementary for eight years. She said the program helps to increase accessibility for students and families who may face challenges with transportation and cannot access grocery stores easily.
Over nine years, the organization has expanded its service model to include a short-term support program for families facing food insecurity, fresh produce pickup, hot meal delivery, a food “shak” system on campuses, and a teen pregnancy program for young mothers to pick up food for themselves and their babies.
“When you’re hungry, you can’t learn,” von Waaden said. “When you have opportunities at access to you, you can live your big dreams, break generational lines of poverty, and it makes sure that you’re ready for the next step, whether it be secondary education [or] going into the workforce. Those kinds of things, it’s provided to you through food security.”
This article appears in November 28 • 2025.