TV Anchor Leaving

Hotshot KHOU anchor is leaving Houston to go national: First since Dan Rather to make the big jump

Vicente Arenas — the weekend news anchor and weekday reporter for KHOU Channel 11 — is leaving the Houston CBS affiliate to join the network as a national correspondent in Miami.

Arenas, who started working at KHOU in 2003, will leave in one week and will begin his new job in Miami on March 17.

He will be the first KHOU anchor to go directly to CBS News as a national correspondent since Dan Rather left the station in 1961.

"We are so proud of Vicente and so happy that he'll still be in the family, reporting to the CBS Evening News and all the network's news broadcasts," stated an internal KHOU memo, according to the Chronicle.

CBS News president David Rhodes told Broadcasting & Cable that there was a vacancy at the network's Miami bureau which CBS wanted to fill with a reporter who was fluent in Spanish.

"We wanted someone who had Spanish-language ability," Rhodes said. "That was really a prerequisite for us. It is a bilingual city and part of this for CBS is about regional coverage."

Prior to his time at KHOU, Arenas worked at WOAI in San Antonio as the weekday morning anchor and consumer reporter and at KTRK Channel 13, primarily as a crime reporter.

Arenas, who has lived in Houston since 1998, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism.

Arenas will be the first KHOU anchor to go directly to CBS News as a national correspondent since Dan Rather.

Vicente Arenas KHOU Facebook

Arenas will be the first KHOU anchor to go directly to CBS News as a national correspondent since Dan Rather.

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Helping hand

ExxonMobil donates $3 million to Houston nonprofit that feeds hungry kids

Courtesy of Kids’ Meals

The 50,000-square-foot building will triple the size of Kids' Meals' headquarters.

At its annual Harvest Luncheon last week, Kids’ Meals, a a nonprofit combatting childhood food insecurity and hunger, received a huge boost: a $3 million gift from ExxonMobil. The gift makes a milestone for the organization.

“We are incredibly grateful to ExxonMobil for the generous $3 million donation, which is the largest corporate donation Kids’ Meals has ever received, both in size and in impact,” CEO Beth Harp said in a statement.

The nonprofit will use the gift toward its new campus, a 50,000-square-foot facility in Spring Branch. Kids’ Meals broke ground on the project in June.

The new building will nearly triple the size of its current headquarters, further helping Kids’ Meals achieve its goal of serving 26,000 children each weekday by 2031. The organization currently serves over 9,000 children every weekday through its 18,500-square-foot headquarters in Garden Oaks. The new building will carry Exxon-Mobil’s name.

“In establishing the Kids’ Meals ExxonMobil Campus, we will be able to expand our programs, reach more children in need, and make a lasting impact on the lives of countless families in the Houston area,” said Harp. “Together, we’re feeding the future and providing hope.”

Founded in 2006, Kids’ Meals serves children ages five and under, and is the only organization in the country that delivers free, healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston’s hungriest children. Since its inception, the organization has delivered more than 14 million meals to children in 56 Houston-area zip codes. After delivering a record-breaking 2.4 million meals in 2023, the nonprofit is on track to deliver 2.7 million meals in 2024.

The Harvest Luncheon is the nonprofit’s biggest event of the year. The event raises funds to provide more than 500,000 meals for preschool-aged children. Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s daughters, Sarah and Whitney, chaired the event. Best-selling author Bob Goff served as keynote speaker.

Courtesy of Kids’ Meals

The 50,000-square-foot building will triple the size of Kids' Meals' headquarters.

nonprofits charity kids meals exxonmobil