Cheryl Tyler’s Story

In June of 2012, before our program officially launched, we received a phone call from a volunteer eager to know “How can I get involved”? That call was Cheryl Tyler.  From that moment, Cheryl became an integral part of the story of Blessings in a Backpack in Houston. Cheryl and Melissa worked collaboratively as Cheryl worked to build programming in Southwest Houston and Melissa worked to build programming at Blackshear and Spring Shadows. They shared partners and resources and worked together with Mayor Sylvestor Turner in receiving the declaration of September 13, 2016 as “Blessings in a Backpack Day” in Houston, Texas. Cheryl began a partnership with Generosity Feeds in February 2018, resulting in the donation of thousands of bags of beans and rice which were distributed by Blessings in a Backpack to schools across Houston.  In July of 2018, the decision was made to merge Southwest Houston with Bayou CIty Blessings as one Blessings in a Backpack chapter in Houston. Together, Melissa and Cheryl expanded programming at Foerster, Grissom and Montgomery by 651 students during the 2019 school year with community support from The Junior League of Houston, The Children’s Fund, and Latin Women’s Initiative.

Cheryl has shared her personal story of why she is so passionate about feeding hungry children in Houston. This story has been shared multiple times through the national office and has inspired so many.

Cheryl’s Family

“In 1987, my husband Lloyd and I both lost our jobs. Lloyd drove  to Galveston every day to find work as a Longshoreman. He was living on a soda and a bag of cookies each day. I was shopping at Fiesta and spending $20.00 on groceries for our family of 5. I could not afford name brands and the items I purchased just said “bread”, “corn”, “green beans”, “rice” and “milk”. The only thing that had a name brand was the  “Jiffy Cornbread Mix”.  One day,  I only had $5.00 and had to feed our three children. I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought a three piece meal. I gave my oldest son a breast and green beans, my youngest son a drumstick and mashed potato with gravy and my daughter a thigh and macaroni. That left me only with a biscuit and coleslaw. My daughter was still hungry so she took my biscuit and I had only the coleslaw. I went to the bathroom and cried because I was hungry. This is why I feed children today.”

We invite you to join Cheryl in this good work.