District 196 Foundation Receives Meta Community Action Grant to Fuel Future Innovators

The District 196 Foundation is proud to announce that we have been awarded a Meta Data Center Community Action Grant to support our Feeding Future Innovators initiative — a project that ensures students have the nutrition they need to learn, grow, and thrive.

As a district nationally recognized for excellence in STEM education, District 196 provides world-class opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math. But even the strongest learning environment cannot overcome one simple barrier: hunger. Students can’t focus on robotics, coding, or science labs when they’re worried about their next meal.

This grant from Meta helps us address that barrier head-on.

Nourishing Students at Emerald Trail Elementary

The Meta grant will fully fund three years of weekend food support at Emerald Trail Elementary, the district’s newest school. Through our partnership with Every Meal, students experiencing food insecurity receive discrete, nutritious meal bags placed directly into their backpacks—ensuring they have access to food beyond the school day.

Within just one hour of launching the program, 14 families signed up. That immediate response underscored the pressing need in our community. As one parent shared, “It was the difference between one meal and two for her children on Sundays.”

With Meta’s support, this program will provide:

  • $12,320 annually for three years

  • ~2,800 weekend meal packs each year

  • Food support for approximately 80 students at Emerald Trail

  • Indirect benefits to more than 1,000 students and families across the district through strengthened food-security programming

Why This Matters: Hunger as a Barrier to Learning

Nutritional stability is foundational to learning. Teachers and social workers consistently report that students who have consistent meals are more focused, more engaged, and more ready to learn — especially on Mondays.

By addressing food insecurity, the Foundation is strengthening outcomes in attendance, confidence, emotional well-being, and academic success. For a district built on innovation, curiosity, and hands-on STEM learning, eliminating hunger ensures every student has the chance to explore their potential.

A Sustainable Path Forward

This grant helps the District 196 Foundation maintain vital food programs without diverting resources from other core initiatives, such as:

  • Band for All, which repairs and restores more than 500 instruments annually

  • Emergency preparedness efforts like Stop the Bleed kits

  • Districtwide weekend food bag support—over 50,000 bags funded every year

Together with our partners, donors, and school community, we are building a stronger, more equitable foundation for learning across all 36 District 196 schools.

Thank You, Meta

We extend our sincere gratitude to Meta for recognizing the importance of basic needs support in building strong STEM futures. Their investment ensures that our youngest learners are nourished, supported, and ready to engage with the world of innovation that District 196 is known for.

When students are fed, they can focus. When they can focus, they can learn. And when they can learn, they can truly shine.

Because every child deserves the chance to imagine, explore, and become a future innovator — and no child should have to do it hungry.


Tracey Dwight