Giving Tuesday: A Message from Travis Frederick

Hello!

My name is Travis Frederick, and I am the president and founder of the Blocking Hunger Foundation. Our mission is to support low-income and inner-city children throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex who struggle with hunger. When I first arrived in the city after being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2013, I immediately fell in love with the area. Although I am now retired, I will forever be indebted to the Dallas community for all of the support I received. My mission to help and support the community continues through my work with the Blocking Hunger Foundation. We aim to help create and broaden a conduit from all of the generosity of the great people of DFW to those in need. Throughout the year, Blocking Hunger usually holds several fundraisers to help fund our mission and our programs. This year, like many others, we have unfortunately not been able to hold our in-person fundraisers. It is because of the generosity of our donors that we are able to continue to operate.  

This year, we have set a goal to raise $3,000 on Giving Tuesday, December 1, through online donations. Giving Tuesday was founded in 2012 and is now recognized as a global day of giving. As we are in the midst of the holidays, it is a great opportunity to give to someone you don’t know and help change a life. Blocking Hunger has set our Giving Tuesday fundraising goal for $3,000 this year to symbolize raising $1,000 for each year since the foundation’s creation. You can help us reach this goal by donating here Your donation will not only help us reach our goal, but it will help children throughout the metroplex who are struggling to find food this holiday season.  


Your donation supports one of our two main programs, the Nourish2Flourish program or Travis’ Pantries. Nourish2Flourish provides backpacks of food to children when they are not in school. Children facing hunger insecurity often receive a bulk of their meals from the USDA’s free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs at school. When school is out of session or on break, whether it be spring break, summer break, Thanksgiving break, or winter break, these children lose access to these programs and the meals they need. Nourish2Flourish helps to make up for lost meals by providing food during those breaks. Travis’ Pantries take that thought even one step further. The pantries are installed in schools and allow families to take food home at the end of the week to provide meals over the weekend.  Many children who rely on free breakfast and lunch don’t get to eat proper meals over the weekend and struggle with school at the beginning of the week. Our four pantries aim to combat that issue. We have worked very hard to utilize the pantries as distribution centers for food throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As you know, many schools have moved to virtual learning or have been in and out of session; our pantries have continued to operate and provide meals for children.


A donation of any amount on Giving Tuesday will help us provide a lasting impact on many children’s lives. Just $50 can feed a child for an entire month. If you are interested in making an even longer-term impact on children in the metroplex, consider signing up for a recurring donation. The Blocking Hunger Foundation aims to support more and more children, and you can make a difference this Giving Tuesday and help us reach our goal by contributing.  

All of the work that we have been able to do and the children we have been able to help is because of people like you. I cannot express how thankful I am for donors and supporters, such as yourself. You have helped me to impact this community, and your support makes me strive to continue to do more.

Thank you,

Travis