H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt is donating $20 million of his money to support 20 food banks across Texas.
The money will go to Feeding Texas, a network of 20 food banks serving all 254 of the state’s counties, San Antonio-based H-E-B announced Wednesday.
“The thought of children going hungry anywhere is painful, but to have that happen here in Texas is unacceptable,” Butt, 86, said in a statement. “My aim is to support access to essential food programs and invest in solutions for Texans. By supporting the hunger relief efforts of these dedicated organizations, we hope to make a meaningful and positive impact across the state.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
ALSO READ: H-E-B CEO Charles Butt and family among world's 200 richest parties in Bloomberg Billionaires Index
One in eight residents in Texas, or nearly 4 million people, experience food insecurity, and Black and Hispanic households are disproportionately affected, according to Feeding Texas.
H-E-B said it has also supported hunger relief as a company through donating over 1 billion pounds of food to 5,500 nonprofits across Texas and Mexico since 1982, running an annual “Help End Hunger” donation campaign and hosting “Feast of Sharing” dinners during the holidays.
Aside from food insecurity, Butt has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support public education in Texas.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
He founded a nonprofit called Raise Your Hand Texas in 2006 that has lobbied against school vouchers and donated $100 million in 2017 to the Holdsworth Center, a nonprofit named after his mother, philanthropist and educator Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt. The Butt family and H-E-B also gave $10 million in 2022 to build a new elementary school in Uvalde to replace Robb Elementary School, the site of a mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers on May 24, 2022.