SLSunday Lunchbox
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About Sunday Lunchbox
Every week, Sunday Lunchbox delivers free, customized market boxes to children and families facing economic insecurity across Central Texas. The boxes bring fresh produce and plant-based foods directly to families, along with cooking guidance, nutrition knowledge, and budgeting support. Since 2021, the organization has delivered 232,180 servings of whole food and now serves roughly 200 children each week across more than 60 families. Your support helps families get food they will use while building the tools and confidence to keep nourishing their children.
Sunday Lunchbox lets families shape the food they receive, then pairs each customized delivery with cooking support, nutrition tools, and quarterly check-ins. Its Nutrition Journey Index tracks progress in access, tools, and agency, while Bumps & Bruises rescues imperfect produce and turns it into shelf-stable snacks and cooking ingredients.
Programs
The concrete work this nonprofit runs. Each program may later become a fundable project.
Lunchbox Family Program
Provides free, customized, direct-to-home market boxes of fresh produce and whole-food, plant-based products to families across Central Texas, with cooking guidance, nutrition knowledge, budgeting support, quarterly check-ins, and family feedback.
Bumps & Bruises
Rescues imperfect, surplus, and B-grade produce from farms, grocers, and corporate partners, then preserves it as shelf-stable snacks and cooking ingredients, including Banana Snax and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables.
Nutrition Journey Index
A composite index developed with nutrition professionals that measures family progress across access to whole foods, nutrition tools, and agency in sustaining plant-rich nourishment.
About this work
Mission
Empowering families facing economic insecurity with access, tools, and agency on their journey to cultivate lasting, plant-rich nourishment for thriving children.
Who they serve
Children and families facing economic insecurity in Central Texas, with most participating families being single mothers or grandparents caring for young children.
Their impact
- Delivered 232,180 servings of whole food since 2021.
- Serves roughly 200 children each week across more than 60 families.
- Rescued 8,558 pounds of food this year.
- 90% of surveyed families reported eating most or all of the fresh produce delivered each week.
- 78% of surveyed families reported feeling confident cooking with the fresh vegetables delivered.
- The May 2026 Nutrition Journey Index baseline included 75 survey responses from 73 families representing 202 children.
- 94% of families in the May 2026 baseline were in the Building Foundations or Growing stages of the Nutrition Journey Index.
How your donation helps
- Fresh produce
- Food rescue runs through the Bumps & Bruises program
- Packaging
- Delivery
- The family nutrition transformation program
- A market box for a four-person family, funded by a $50 gift
- Shelf-stable snacks and cooking ingredients made from rescued produce, funded by a $100 food rescue run
Need help?
How someone in need can access Sunday Lunchbox’s services.
Families can join the Lunchbox Family Program through referrals from friends, family members, social workers, teachers, or counselors, or they can refer themselves. Applicants complete a short intake, maintain their food preferences, and participate in quarterly check-ins. The program is free for families. Questions about applying can be sent to contact@sundaylunchbox.com.
Stories
The people behind the work.
In their words
Nourishing food is a right, not a privilege.
We deliver nourished, ready-to-learn children by transforming the family food environment at home. — Sunday Lunchbox 2026 Strategic Plan
Sunday Lunchbox has been the biggest stress reliever in my life. With food prices constantly in flux, it's hard as a single mother to choose between meat and fresh fruits and veggies. I don't have to make that choice with this program. — A Lunchbox family, Austin
It was perfect. Everything in the box will be used, and the perfect amount of produce. — A Lunchbox mom, Austin
My babies love the banana snacks. They're a crowd favorite, gone the same day. — A Lunchbox family
Grant support
$32,000 from 2 funders · through 2025 (IRS 990 records).
- THE WINE & FOOD FOUNDATION OF TEXAS — $12,000 (2025)GRANT
- A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOUNDATION AUSTIN — $20,000 (2022)TO FURTHER THEIR TAX EXEMPT PURPOSE
Ways to help
Concrete needs and volunteer roles Sunday Lunchbox has shared.
Current needs
- Fresh produce donations from farms and growers
- Surplus produce donations for food rescue and preservation
- Shelf-stable food items from the organization's Amazon list
- Financial support for fresh produce, food rescue, packaging, delivery, and the transformation program
- Farms, grocers, commercial kitchens, schools, businesses, and funders interested in partnership
Volunteer opportunities
- Hub volunteers pack and produce market boxes at the commercial kitchen.
- Preserve volunteers turn rescued produce into Banana Snax, freeze-dried snacks, and freeze-dried vegetables.
- Driver volunteers pick up produce from farms and deliver market boxes to families' doors.
- Community and market volunteers represent Sunday Lunchbox at markets, community events, and gatherings across Central Texas.
- Lead volunteers run shifts independently and mentor newer volunteers.
- Skilled and group volunteers can support research, content creation, resource mapping, packing, preservation, and delivery projects.
Partners & funders
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this nonprofit and how its work happens.
How are Lunchbox market boxes customized?
Families share their food preferences in Sunday Lunchbox’s system, and each free box is assembled around what they will enjoy and use. An allocation algorithm helps support both family satisfaction and fair distribution.
What is included in a market box?
Boxes include farm-direct seasonal fruits and vegetables, whole-food snacks such as Banana Snax and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, shelf-stable vegetables for cooking, and chef-crafted cooking guides. Everything is plant-based, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
How does the Nutrition Journey Index work?
Families receive a composite score from 0 to 100, along with sub-scores for access, tools, and agency. A baseline is completed when a family joins, and quarterly check-ins track progress and help identify the support needed next.
Can families receive food without graduating from the program?
Yes. Access to whole foods remains ongoing community food infrastructure. Families continue receiving food while Sunday Lunchbox tracks tools and agency and measures progress over time.
How does Bumps & Bruises support the family program?
Bumps & Bruises rescues surplus and imperfect produce and preserves it as shelf-stable snacks and cooking ingredients. Those foods supplement fresh produce, including when fresh donations are limited.
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