The 46th annual Share Your Holidays Food Drive has kicked off early this season, and this year, journalism students are telling the story. Students from Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, and the University of Houston joined ABC13 as part of the station’s inaugural journalism lab to help announce the return of the event, which has become tradition in the Houston area.
On Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1, a drive dubbed the 2026 campaign kicks off at 6 a.m. and runs through 6 p.m., sponsored by Citgo, Greater Houston Honda Dealers, Houston Ballet, and Oak Farms. Donations can be made at locations across the Houston region, including the Houston Food Bank, Montrose, Baytown, Galveston, Sugar Land, Pearland, and Richmond/Rosenberg. Every gift stays within the local community.
What to Give
The food bank lists its most-needed items:
- Shelf-stable snacks: granola bars, crackers, trail mix, nuts, dried fruits
- Canned goods (low sodium, pull top preferred): meats, fruits, vegetables, pastas, beans, soups
- Drinks: water, sports drinks, shelf-stable milk, shelf-stable juice (low sugar)
A few things may not be given away, among them opened packages, food made at home, things that go bad, clothes, and tobacco.
Why the Campaign Matters
A gift to the food bank can make a real difference, regardless of its size. Each $1 brings 3 meals to those in need, and a contribution of $10 delivers 30 meals for a hungry child, senior, or adult. Every dollar counts, whether it’s a large sum or a modest one.
ABC13 hopes to exceed its 2013 record of 1,627,115 meals during the Share Your Holidays drive. Feeding Texas reports that as of July 2026, 1 in 5 Texans faces food insecurity — over 6 million Texans.
Feeding Texas is part of Feeding America and serves as a statewide network of food banks, standing as the biggest hunger-relief organization in the Lone Star State. The latest numbers reveal that over the course of a single year, Texas experienced food insecurity growing from 17.6% to 19.4%, with children and seniors both showing notable rises during that period.
Texas leads the country in the number of people who lack consistent access to enough nutritious food, and its food banks are experiencing demand that has never been higher before. The USDA forecasts that food costs will rise by 3% over the coming years.
Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research published a March 2026 report revealing that 2 out of every 5 Houston households are living with food insecurity. The report highlights that the strain hits hardest in neighborhoods already grappling with systemic disadvantage, among them Aldine, Greenspoint, Pasadena, and Spring.
Of households earning under $35,000, roughly 60% struggle with moderate to high food insecurity. Among those with a household income between $35,000 and $74,999, the figure rises to around 40%. Southeast Texas alone counts some one million people among its food-insecure population.
Feeding Texas reports that one in four Latino Texans are experiencing food insecurity, and the overall food insecurity rate for Latinos in Texas stands at 24%. This problem affects Black (53%) and Hispanic (47%) residents most heavily.
Last Year’s Numbers
Houstonians gave generously, producing well over 1.1 million meals during the food drive held in 2025. Viewers contributed to the food bank’s campaign, helping it exceed its $75,000 goal for the fund drive. The total stood at over $80,000 when the campaign concluded on Dec. 31, 2025.
Organizers with the Ismaili Council said their five Jamatkhana locations pulled in over 100,000 pounds of food, part of a wave of donations that hit drop-off points run by ABC13’s community partners from Galveston to Katy.
Galveston partners reported receiving $112,300 in sponsorship funds and collecting 22,000 pounds of food. Meanwhile, VFW Hall Post 3903 in Rosenberg said it brought in roughly $4,800 in sponsor money and gathered around 38,000 pounds of food.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the Houston Food Bank says it supplied 143 million meals. Of those, eighteen million went to children through its Backpack Buddy, Kids Cafe, and School Market programs. The remaining fourteen million came from help with SNAP applications.
How the Drive Started
More than 40 years after it started as an hour-long television broadcast aimed at gathering food donations, the event has expanded far beyond its original scope to serve the whole Houston area. The first Share Your Holidays drive took place at ABC13 back in 1980, and since then, the total count of cans gathered has reached well into the millions.
The Houston Oilers’ star player, Earl Campbell, and his teammate Tim Wilson felt such strong emotion about the event that they came to the station.
| Event | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Drop-off donations | Dec. 1, 2026 | 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. |
For more than a decade, Houstonians have gathered to share their holiday meals through the Share Your Holidays Food Drive. Now, as the 46th edition returns, the demand has grown, and so has the pressure to top last year’s haul. The record to beat is very much on everyone’s mind.
Every meal matters, which is what the food bank wants people to know. Money stretches farther than most realize, and a single can of soup left at the door on Dec. 1 keeps feeding someone in need.
For 46 years now, this has been a shared undertaking. The young reporters stepping forward to announce it this year carry on that custom — learners still, yet contributing to the account of an occasion that has sustained the eating of millions of Houstonians since 1980.
When the drive got underway, Earl Campbell and Tim Wilson showed up at the station. Since then, the Houston Food Bank has remained there, and it will continue to be there through Dec. 1.
Source material: “Houston Food Bank near me: Journalism students help ABC13 kick off 46th annual Share Your Holidays Food Drive,” ABC13 Houston.
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