Meal Packaging takes Cresco Festival to New Heights
September 30, 2014
The 2014 Norman Borlaug Heritage Festival in Cresco, Iowa hit a high note this year with the addition of a
meal-packaging session to the weekend’s activities.
This annual festival is organized by the Cresco Chamber of
Commerce and the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation, and combines
a small-town, Iowa harvest fest with a celebration of the life and legacy of
Cresco-area native Norman Borlaug. As part of the festival this year, over
50,000 meals were packaged for hungry people in Northeast Iowa and
overseas.
Organizers describe the addition of meal packaging to the festival as a
“crescendo”, which built community spirit and helped area residents to
become valued participants in the fight to end hunger.
As the kick-off to the Norman Borlaug Heritage Festival, over 300 fifth-grade students from eight area schools
gathered on the Borlaug Family Farm for “Inspire Day” to learn about hunger, agriculture, and Norman
Borlaug’s life and work. During Inspire Day, students packaged 6264 meals for the hungry from the Borlaug
barn. On the last day of the festival, community members gathered at Cresco High School to package the
remaining 43,746 meals. People in the community are eager to package again next year and planning for a
repeat performance has already begun.
The Cresco CROP Hunger Walk was also held in conjunction with the festival.
Walkers raised $5239 to fight hunger internationally through Church World
Service’s programs and locally by supporting the local food pantry at
Community Action. This year, the Cresco CROP Hunger Walk was organized
in partnership with the Prairie Springs Recreational Trail 5K, which helped
raise awareness and increase participation in both activities. Elderly and
others preferring not to walk/run raised funds and participated in the event
through a “CROP Hunger Rock” by sitting in rocking chairs near the route for
the duration of the walk.
Based on their experiences adding meal-packaging to the Norman Borlaug Heritage Festival, organizers
suggest that other communities:
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Reach out to Meals from the Heartland and Outreach, Inc., two organizations that specialize in helping
organizations and communities package meals for the hungry. Meals from the Heartland and Outreach,
Inc. have a wealth of information about how much money to raise to cover the cost of food, the size and
type of venues needed for a packaging event, and walk event organizers through every step of the
process.
Involve schools, churches, and clubs in packaging and fundraising activities. Groups in Cresco raised
$50,000 to help cover the cost of the meals by encouraging their members to donate money and
register for a packaging shift during the festival.
Make sure people know that some of the meals stay to help local families who are hungry. By keeping
half of the meals in Northeast Iowa, organizers at the festival helped people feel that their efforts were
more local and tangible. Community members will also know that their efforts are successful when they
start seeing the meals they packaged on the shelves of their local pantries.
If possible, secure a matching donation from an area business or foundation. The Lynch Family
Foundation agreed to match the $50,000 raised by Cresco community members, which made
fundraising easier and doubled the amount of meals that could be packaged during the festival.
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