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Thursday, September 17, 2026 — today
It’s North Texas Giving Day. Communities Foundation of Texas covers the transaction and technology fees, so 100% of what you give online goes to the nonprofit. Hundreds of organizations still have matching funds available, which is an easy way to make a smaller gift go further.
This is not a ranked list. It is a starting point for food people who want a meal on the table, a second chance in a kitchen, or a local cause they already care about. Search, give, and if you have a favorite we missed, tag them.
Give here: NorthTexasGivingDay.org
Browse hunger and food-access groups: food-related search
Dallas LIFE Homeless Recovery Center
Start here if you want giving that is as basic as a hot meal and as lasting as a way out.
Dallas LIFE is the largest homeless recovery center in North Texas. A lot of the people who come through the doors are parents — working, raising kids, one missed paycheck from losing it all — looking for a place to start over with their children. That first night is a hot meal and a safe bed. What comes next is a 10-month Homeless No More program: counseling, medical care, job readiness, and a plan. Nine in 10 families who finish it never need a shelter again.
Today, every gift to Dallas LIFE is matched dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 already committed.
Café Momentum
This is the food-world gift that is also a second-chance story.
Café Momentum is a nonprofit restaurant that runs a paid internship for justice-involved youth, ages 15–19. Interns rotate through the dining room and kitchen, re-enroll in school, and get case management and mental-health support along the way. Restaurant revenue only covers part of the program. Donors fund the rest.
Tonight is also Momentum Live, their biggest night of the year — and the last one at the downtown Pacific Avenue restaurant before the next chapter in the Wilson Historic District.
Regional food banks
Think of these as one category: pick the food bank that covers your county.
North Texas Food Bank closes the hunger gap across 12 counties, including Dallas, Collin, and Rockwall, through nearly 500 partner pantries and direct feeding programs. They distribute more than 2 million meals a week. Every $1 donated provides access to 3 meals.
Donate to North Texas Food Bank
This year’s CANstruction Dallas is still at NorthPark Center through Sunday — giant sculptures built entirely out of canned food, themed “A League of UnCANny Villains.” After the exhibit, the cans go to North Texas Food Bank. Last year it raised nearly $28,000 and more than 117,000 pounds of canned goods. Every $5 donated helps NTFB provide access to 15 meals.
Tarrant Area Food Bank (the Fort Worth-side food bank — not “Tarrant County Food Bank”) serves 13 counties, including Tarrant, Denton, and Wise. They provide more than 1 million meals a week through 450+ partner agencies. Their Ready to Learn markets put food in schools so kids show up ready to learn. Every $1 donated provides 5 meals.
Donate to Tarrant Area Food Bank
Same job. Different map. Give where you live.
Broadway Dallas
Dallas Food Nerd has an ongoing partnership with Broadway Dallas, the nonprofit that presents Broadway at the Music Hall at Fair Park.
Your gift supports more than the shows. Broadway Dallas education programs reach tens of thousands of students through High School Musical Theatre Awards, classroom partnerships, and community tickets. Through Broadway Dallas Cares, volunteers also help families in South Dallas in partnership with Jubilee Park.
Theater is not a food pantry. It is still a North Texas table a lot of us sit at.
Chefs for Farmers
Dallas Food Nerd is not affiliated with these organizations. We have seen their work up close through Chefs for Farmers, where ticket proceeds have supported groups focused on farms, fresh food, and second chances.
- The Seed Project Foundation / McKinney Roots grows produce and pasture-raised eggs on a donation farm in McKinney and gets that food to families through Collin County partners. Donate
- Giving Tree Acres is a nonprofit farm growing food for underserved communities in DFW, with a focus on getting fresh produce into pantries, farmstands, and schools. Donate
- New Friends New Life restores and empowers trafficked and sexually exploited women, teen girls, and their children. The food tie-in is Liberty Street Garden, where survivors can earn a living wage growing produce. Donate
- Urban Harvest has also been a Chefs for Farmers beneficiary. It is Houston-based, so it is not a North Texas Giving Day gift — worth knowing if you give in both cities.
How to give (and make it count)
- Go to NorthTexasGivingDay.org
- Search your nonprofit. If a match is available, you will see it on the org page.
- Give today.
- Split a larger gift across a couple of causes if you want both hunger relief and something closer to home, like your ISD education foundation.
Then tell us where you gave.
