June Hero: Trey Hoobler, Hunger Busters

Trey Hoobler is Feeding Kids and Fueling Futures

If kids get free and reduced breakfast and lunch at school, what about dinner? That’s where Hunger Busters comes in – with the 3rd meal of the day. And Trey Hoobler, its CEO, is leading the charge to make sure our kids in West and South Dallas are well fed.

Monday thru Friday, Hunger Busters makes 2000 meals daily, and on Sundays it’s 6000 meals (to cover 2 days). With just 2 full-time employees, Hunger Busters relies on its volunteers. “We can make 2000 meals, just the two of us, but we’ll just sit and not talk for hours. Luckily we’ve only had to do that once in 6 months.” And Hunger Busters does have the most amazing volunteers – the corporate volunteers from Communities Foundation of Texas, Bank of America, Texas Capital, the Italian Club, the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and the affectionately referred to “Tuesday Ladies” and “Friday Families,” just to name a few.

According to the North Texas Food Bank, one in every four kids in North Texas are food insecure (meaning they don’t know where their next nutritious meal will come from) which is almost 300,000 children. And food insecure children are sick more often and are more likely to suffer developmental delays.

Trey traveled the world for 10 years, but has roots here in Dallas. He graduated high school at J.J. Pierce in Richardson, and then after college worked in Mexico and Europe doing international real estate. He witnessed oppressive governments and unsustainable investments in communities. He then came back to the States and joined a Think Tank where he wrote a thesis on combating human trafficking. When he moved back to Dallas, a friend told him about Hunger Busters, and he’s been at the helm for the last 4 years.

Trey says, “I try to fill my Mind, Body, and Soul buckets daily. The nonprofit fills my soul” – a great discipline we think!

Trey received the prestigious 40 Under 40 award from the Dallas Business Journal in March 2018.