North Star 4-H Club applied for the Minnesota 4-H Food Partner Challenge grant and received $500 to spend on a youth-led service project to help with food insecurity.
Their project was titled “Food for Families”. The funds were used to purchase non-perishable food items to create “meal kits” to help elementary school students and their families in need of food at home. Some of the foods purchased were soup and crackers, pancake mix and syrup, pasta and sauce, mac and cheese cups, chicken fried rice, chili and cornbread, oatmeal, and fruit, among others. All of the “meal kits” are shelf-stable and only require water to prepare. All of the food was packed in plastic bags for easy distribution.
North Star 4-H Club members also created “birthday cake” kits that contained cake mix and ingredients to make the cake, frosting, candles, a pan to bake it in, handwritten directions, and well wishes from club members. The club packed 128 meal kits and created 6 birthday cake kits!!
The club partnered with the Highland School counseling staff to confidentially deliver the kits as needed. The club would like to thank Minnesota 4-H for sponsoring the project. The Food Partner Challenge is funded by a gift from Compeer Financial and many other generous donors to Minnesota 4-H.
Submitted by North Star 4-H Club Reporter Ella Capistran.
