Partnership for a Healthier America Grants $50,000 to Brighter Bites to Boost Fresh Food Access in Washington, D.C. Metro Area Schools
Partnership will connect D.C. area schoolchildren and their families with over 1.5 million servings of fresh fruits and vegetables
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 26, 2025) – Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), the national nonprofit working to create a healthier future through good food for all, today announced a new partnership with Brighter Bites, a nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education to schools. As part of the collaboration, PHA has provided a $50,000 grant to support Brighter Bites’ evidence-based programming in Washington, D.C. metro area schools, which will connect local students and their families with more than 1.5 million servings of fresh produce.
The grant is part of PHA’s ‘Good Food Cities’ initiative, which works with local partners to build sustainable, community-led systems that break down barriers to affordable, healthy food. The initiative aims to double the consumption of fruits and vegetables in participating cities by 2030. By funding Brighter Bites’ proven school-based model, PHA is investing in a critical pathway to increase access to and consumption of fresh produce for under-resourced families across the District.
“Ending the experience of hunger and closing the nutrition gap for children must be a nation-wide, collaborative effort, and that’s what our Good Food Cities initiative is all about,” said Noreen Springstead, President and CEO of Partnership for a Healthier America. “Brighter Bites has a tremendous track record of creating healthier habits for children and families through the powerful combination of access and education. We are proud to partner with them as we work to make Washington, D.C. a city where every single family has the opportunity to eat well and live a healthy life.”
Brighter Bites provides families of elementary school children with up to 20 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables weekly for 16 weeks during the school year and for 4-6 weeks during the summer. Each distribution is paired with nutrition education materials, including recipes and tip sheets, to help families create delicious, healthy meals. The program also incorporates the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) curriculum in classrooms to reinforce healthy habits throughout the school environment.
“This generous grant from Partnership for a Healthier America is a powerful endorsement of our mission and a significant investment in the health of children in the Washington, D.C. area,” said Rich Dachman, CEO of Brighter Bites. “Consistent access to fresh produce and nutrition education during childhood is key to building lifelong healthy eating habits. This partnership allows us to deepen our impact, ensuring thousands of families have not only the fresh food they need but also the educational support to make healthy choices stick. We are thrilled to work alongside PHA to build a brighter, healthier future for this community.”
The PHA and Brighter Bites partnership in the Washington, D.C. area will contribute to a collective impact model that can serve as a national blueprint for advancing health equity and reducing the burden of diet-related diseases.
About Partnership for a Healthier America
At Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), we are advancing equitable access to nutritious food for all in America to lead healthy lives. As a national nonprofit founded alongside Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign in 2010, PHA works with community organizations, corporations, foundations and governments to build healthier communities through nutritious food. Learn more about our work at ahealthieramerica.org.
About Brighter Bites
Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites is an evidence-based, multi-component elementary school, preschool, and summer camp program that utilizes reliable access to fruits and vegetables, nutrition education, and consistent exposure to recipes and messages that feature fresh food. Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided over 75 million pounds of produce and millions of nutrition education materials to more than one million individuals (including teachers) in Austin, Bakersfield, Dallas, Greater Philadelphia, Houston, Las Cruces, Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York City, Salinas, San Antonio, Southwest Florida, and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. To learn more about Brighter Bites visit www.brighterbites.org.
Media Contacts:
Jason Wilson, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Partnership for a Healthier America, jwilson@ahealthieramerica.org
Jessica Schneider, Senior Communications Coordinator, DMA Solutions, Inc