Nurse Gloria Larry at Anderson Elementary tackles student hunger by coordinating the Houston Food Bank’s Backpack Buddy Program, which KHOU 11 partners with.
HOUSTON — When you’re a school nurse, your job is more than just bandages and thermometers. You’re often the first line of defense in keeping kids healthy, and sometimes, that means making sure they don’t go hungry.
At HISD’s Anderson Elementary, Nurse Gloria Larry, lovingly known by students and staff as “Nurse Larry,” goes above and beyond the call of duty.
She said she can tell if a child is suffering from malnutrition.
“Sometimes the nails are parched, uneven, not growing like a healthy child’s. Sometimes, you see dry skin,” Larry said.
Larry was hired as the school nurse at Anderson Elementary 13 years ago. It didn’t take long for her to notice something alarming.
She said, almost immediately, she saw signs of malnutrition in many of the students. They even told her they were hungry. She decided to take action.
That’s when she found out about the Houston Food Bank’s Backpack Buddy Program, which KHOU 11 is proud to partner with. The program provides food to students who are food insecure, giving them enough to eat through the weekend.
She became a coordinator of the Backpack Buddy Program at Anderson Elementary, personally packing bags for kids in need.
“It’s a lifesaver. For my campus, it’s a lifesaver. Parents have come back to tell me, ‘I don’t know what we would have done without that food, nurse. It’s made such a difference,” she says.
Typically, she distributes the backpacks every Friday. But she knows that hunger doesn’t follow a schedule.
“I’ve had parents call and say, ‘Nurse, can you give me the bag on Wednesday? I get paid every Friday, but I struggle from Wednesday to Friday.’ So of course, if it’s here, we give it to them.”
Nurse Larry is challenging the Houston community to help. Every dollar donated provides three meals through the Houston Food Bank.
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