Kids’ Meals 14th Annual Harvest Luncheon Kicks off the 2022 Holiday Season with Fun, Food, and Inspiration
The Marriott Marquis Houston will be the place to be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, November 11, 2022. That’s the day of the Kids’ Meals 14th Annual Harvest Luncheon. The popular annual event signals the start of the holiday shopping season by offering participants a collection of unique items to select from a curated group of vendors. Kids’ Meals is an essential nonprofit organization that makes and delivers free meals to poverty-stricken preschool-aged children in the Houston area.
Luncheon cochairs, Kathleen Pennington and Julie Applegate, will host the luncheon, and Kathy Bennett will be the market chair. Guests will also enjoy a raffle and silent auction curated by silent auction chair and décor cochair Michele Holbrooke, a live painting by acclaimed Houston artist Taft McWhorter, and a Mimosas & Market. Valero, Kroger, The Astros Foundation, Drs. Nicci and Chris Greeley, Vanessa Goebel, Donna Jett, and Helen Pung, who are avid supporters of Kids’ Meals, will be honored throughout the event.
Delivering the inspirational key-note address will be acclaimed country music artist Jimmie Allen. Not only is Allen a platinum-selling recording artist, he is also an author, the 2021 CMA New Artist of the Year, and the 2021 ACM New Male Artist of the Year. His debut picture book, My Voice Is a Trumpet, was published in 2021. It encourages readers of all ages to speak up for what they believe in.
Renowned for his vivacious live performances, Allen is also an exciting public speaker with the ability to relate to an audience by sharing his own inspirational story. By revealing his struggles with poverty and mental illness, Allen’s mission is to bring about change in both these areas. He advocates for greater diversity in music and entertainment and for destigmatizing discussions of mental health. His overall message is of hope and compassion and the knowledge that obstacles can be overcome, no matter how unsurmountable they seem. The over 1,400 expected attendees, made up of individuals from corporations and foundations as well as generous Houstonians, will be treated to an intimate Q&A with the artist.
Proceeds from the event support Kids’ Meals' mission to end childhood hunger in Houston. The organization has distributed over 9 million healthy meals to food-insecure preschool-aged children since 2006. During the peak of the pandemic, it grew more than 135 percent almost overnight to feed over 7,500 children every day.
For information on Kids’ Meals, including details about purchasing a ticket, table, or sponsorship for the 14th Annual Harvest Luncheon, please visit www.kidsmealsinc.org/harvestluncheon/ or contact Cynthia Stielow at
About Kids’ Meals
Since 2006, Kids’ Meals has been delivering free healthy meals directly to the homes of hungry children who face debilitating hunger due to extreme poverty. Kids’ Meals is the only program of its kind in the United States. It is the first responder to provide meals to children six years of age and under who do not have access to free school-based meals.
Kids’ Meals is dedicated to ending childhood hunger through collaboration and to providing families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. Kids’ Meals has served over 9 million free meals to hungry children in 46 Houston-area zip codes and delivers an average of 6,044 free healthy meals every weekday.
For more information about Kids’ Meals, visit www.kidsmealsinc.org, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.