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United Airlines converts cargo facility into Houston Food Bank distribution center

United Airlines Houston Food Bank cargo workers

United Airlines has converted one of its cargo facilities into a Houston Food Bank distribution center.

Photo by Steve Heldmann

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the Houston Food Bank has seen a remarkable rise in need around the city. As more local families require assistance during these trying times, a major food bank partner is launching an innovative way to help.

United Airlines has transformed one of its cargo facilities at George Bush Intercontinental Airport into a food distribution center to aid the Houston Food Bank’s efforts, according to a statement. Employee volunteers in Houston are receiving, packing, sorting, and distributing food and other items to families in need.

Thus far, employees have sorted and bagged nearly 160,000 pounds of food and household products and volunteered nearly 5,000 hours, according to the airline.

Much of this food will be used at a new large-scale distribution model called a “Neighborhood Super Site,” which expects to see 3,000 to 5,000 vehicles each event. Volunteers will also pick up product at the cargo center to then make safe, no-contact deliveries to households, per the airline.

Mark Zessin, a United baggage team member, sparked the idea to convert the cargo space. For his efforts, Zessin is now leading a team of employee volunteers at the bustling facility.

Over the last four years, United has invested more than $1 million in Houston Food Bank, which annually serves more than 104 million meals to food insecure individuals and families in Southeast Texas. United and the Houston Food Bank also partnered to distribute food and supplies to Federal employees during the 2019 Federal government shutdown.

“This assistance to serve the most vulnerable population during this pandemic is amazing. United is a dedicated and important partner of the Houston Food Bank, and we will not forget this generosity,” said Brian Greene, president and CEO of the Houston Food Bank.

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

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