Dining events to feed Houston Food Bank From the cover
What’s being done
Current situation
Stone said allowing the Houston Food Bank to be the sole bene ciary of this year’s funds from Eat Drink HTX will hopefully help them to continue to “reach more areas and more people.” “We’re really lucky that we have the world’s largest food bank by distribution in Houston, which can reach more people on a daily basis,” she said. “Because of that impact, and because of how e cient they are, we decided to make them the sole bene ciary.” Over the past 20 years, Houston Restaurant Weeks has raised approximately $22 million for the Houston Food Bank, which equates to about 66 million meals, according to the foundation’s website. Meanwhile, Eat Drink HTX, which is cel- ebrating its fth year in 2026, has raised $76,000. Voss said HRW is by far the food bank’s largest event and provides a “substantial” amount of money to the nonpro t, as does Eat Drink HTX. “The funds we get from The Cleverley Stone Foundation support our general operating bud- get,” she said, “and these events are so successful that it’s something that we’ve come to depend on as a revenue stream for the Houston Food Bank.” The food bank’s operating budget goes toward several services, Voss said. In scal year 2024-25, its $436 million budget was able to provide 140 million meals across 18 counties, supply 14 million meals through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro- gram and feed 7 million children through di erent food bank programs. For comparison, the North Texas Food Bank, which is often seen as the next-largest distributor in Texas behind the Houston Food Bank, dis- tributed 116 million meals in FY 2024-25 with a roughly $200 million operating budget, according to the food bank’s annual report.
The proceeds for Eat Drink HTX, a two-week-long charity dining event in February, will go to the Houston Food Bank this year—a change from previous years when funds were split among two or more di erent nonpro ts. O cials with Eat Drink HTX, the sister event to Houston’s largest annual foodie fundraiser, Houston Restaurant Weeks, made the announcement in early January. This year, 130 restaurants will participate in the program, with nearly 50% of participants located inside Loop 610. Katie Stone, president of The Cleverley Stone Foundation, which produces both Eat Drink HTX and HRW, said they chose the Houston Food Bank due to the recent nancial strain and challenges it experienced last year. The food bank saw major cuts in federal funding and basic agricultural products in 2025, as well as a 43-day government shutdown that a ected funding. Julie Voss, chief development o cer for the Houston Food Bank, said the nonpro t lost more than $11 million in federal funding last year, which equated to about 40 tractor- trailer loads of food, as well as the loss of some community support programs. However, Voss said in the wake of the federal funding cuts, she has seen the amount of philanthropic support increase, making up a “far larger” portion than it previously did. Fiscal year 23 25 audited numbers The Houston Food Bank lost around $11 million in federal funding in 2025, but saw an increase in philanthropic funding.
Making an impact Houston Restaurant Weeks and Eat Drink HTX have raised over $22 million for the Houston Food Bank since 2003.
Cleverley Stone created HRW, and the one-week event yielded a $5,913 donation to Houston’s End Hunger Network
2003
HRW became a month-long event and donated $1.2 million to the Houston Food Bank
2012
O cials extended HRW into September to help restaurants impacted by Hurricane Harvey, with a $2.5 million donation to the food bank
2017
The Cleverley Stone Foundation establishes Eat Drink HTX
2021
To date, HRW has raised $22 million , which equates to 66 million meals
2025
Government
Philanthropy
Other
SOURCE: HOUSTON RESTAURANT WEEKS COMMUNITY IMPACT
$18.67M
2022-23
$44.3M
$5.23M
$28.03M
2023-24
$48.22M
$17.57M
$24.56M
How it works
2024-25
$49.44M
Restaurant donation per meal sold
Meal prices
$5.75M
$10.58M
2025-26
Dinner ($25)
$1 donation
$44M
Eat Drink HTX will take place Feb. 15-28 across the Greater Houston area, with returning restau- rants in the Inner Loop, including local favorites such as Dandelion Cafe, Pok Pok Po and Preslee’s, as well as newcomers such as Traveler’s Cart, Peppaz HTX and Nando’s Peri-Peri. Dinner will be priced at $25 , with lunch and brunch both priced at $15 . Similar to Houston Restaurant Weeks, Stone said participating restau- rants will make donations based on their sales.
$4.21M
Lunch ($15)
$0.50 donation
Meals distributed
140M
140M
Brunch ($15)
$0.50 donation
132M*
120M
SOURCE: THE CLEVERLEY STONE FOUNDATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
A $0.50 donation will generate 1.5 meals for the Houston Food Bank and a $1 donation will generate three meals, Stone said.
2022-23
2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
SOURCE: HOUSTON FOOD BANK COMMUNITY IMPACT *THIS NUMBER REPRESENTS THE GOAL FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR
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