HILL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — "Us providing a hot nutritious meal and dinner is monumental for these families," said Kitchen Manager at the Boys and Girls Club of Hill County, Brooklyn Tompkins.
Tompkins' job at the Boys and Girls Club of Hill County is to cook a warm, healthy meal for the 100 hundred children signed up for its after-school program.
"We do have a larger percentage of children that are economically disadvantaged that attend here," Tompkins said.
"We have a larger percentage of kiddos that the meal they eat here is the last meal they'll have for the day."
That's why Tompkins puts her heart and soul into everything she cooks.
The funding comes from federal grants, which President Trump wants to pause via an executive order, which would freeze all federal funding.
Tompkins says the nonprofit received close to $40,000 for food last year, and funding CEO Justin Derington says is a critical part of the work they do at the center.
"A hungry stomach cannot listen — the first thing we do when they come in is we feed them," said the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Hill County, Justin Derington.
"We get straight to their bells and their hearts, that way we're one step closer to them listening to us and building trust with us as well."
Those satisfied stomachs lead to satisfied staffers.
"Being able to watch the kids enjoy new and notorious food items makes my heart happy," Derington said.
