Pariveda Solutions Leverages AWS to Help Houston Food Bank Make Meals Accessible to Greater Houston Community

HOUSTON, Feb. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1 million people are food insecure, lacking reliable access to nutritious food, in southeast Texas. Through its network of over 1,500 community partners, the Houston Food Bank leads the fight against hunger by providing food assistance across its 18-county coverage area in southeast Texas.  In an effort to reach even more individuals, Houston Food Bank and Pariveda Solutions are leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create a digital app that will make meals even more accessible.

With the help of its community partners, from soup kitchen to meal sites to shelters, Houston Food Bank helps to feed 800,000 individuals each year.  In times of disaster, such as Hurricane Harvey, the need increases, and Houston Food Bank is called upon to aid the community.  In the year following Hurricane Harvey, they distributed 122 million nutritious meals (source: Houston Food Bank). 

Now, a little more than one year since the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, Houston Food Bank is working to leverage technology to make a greater impact, not only during a storm but also for the parents who are struggling to put meals on the table. 

"One in six children goes hungry in Texas, and one critical component to solving this issue is awareness of available resources," says Brian Greene, president/CEO of Houston Food Bank.  "There are a great deal of services and information available, but it can often be confusing and overwhelming, and we are working on a mobile and web application, or 'app', with Pariveda Solutions leveraging AWS, designed to streamline information in a user-friendly format to help people get the assistance that they need, especially in times of disaster."

Pariveda Solutions utilized their 11-week internship program, focused on making an impact to the community, to put together a mobile and web application that allows for people to more easily find access to food banks close to them. The application is a first because it integrates with the database housed on AWS and reaches new communities.

"Working with Houston Food Bank gave us the opportunity to impact the Houston community at a large scale," said Allison Esenkova, Houston Vice President for Pariveda Solutions. "It provided a platform for our interns to learn the world of consulting while giving back in a way that impacts the Houston community to reduce hunger." 

This new application leverages the technologies of AWS. Houston Food Bank has decided to migrate their platforms to the AWS stack and this new pantry application aligns and integrates easily. This mobile application will allow for a map with pantry locations for ease of discovery, Spanish language support and push notifications that will work by geography. In addition, it will provide general information about the food bank as well as user analytics to continue to improve.

"We are delighted to see Amazon Web Services technology impact the community in a positive way," said Terry Wise, Vice President of Worldwide Partner Ecosystems, Amazon Web Services, Inc. "Houston Food Bank and APN Premier Partner Pariveda Solutions leveraged AWS to create a solution that is designed have a lasting impact on the people of Houston."

About Pariveda Solutions
Pariveda Solutions, Inc. is an employee-owned, strategic services and information technology consulting company that grows and deploys talented people to solve the strategic and technical challenges of its clients. The company serves clients in ten major city locations including: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C. Pariveda Solutions and The Business of IT are trademarks of Pariveda Solutions, Inc., Dallas, Texas, USA.

About Houston Food Bank
The Houston Food Bank is a solution to both hunger and food waste.  In the year following Hurricane Harvey the Food Bank distributed 122 million nutritious meals through its network of 1,500 community partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens, social service providers, and schools in southeast Texas. We distribute fresh produce, meat and nonperishables from our warehouse at 535 Portwall, where we also prepare nutritious hot meals for kids in our new state-of-the-art Keegan Kitchen.  We work with grocery stores and growers to rescue food before it reaches landfills with a focus on fresh healthy food. Additional community services include nutrition education and SNAP application assistance.  We feed hungry people in 18-county service area alongside our partner food banks in Montgomery County, Galveston and Brazos Valley. The Houston Food Bank, founded in 1982, is a certified member of Feeding America, the nation's food bank network, with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator. 

Contact information
Contact for Houston Food Bank
Paula Murphy, Patterson & Murphy Public Relations – 832-723-6983;
[email protected] 
Adele Brady, Houston Food Bank – 713-547-8674; [email protected]  

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SOURCE Pariveda Solutions, Inc.