High Schools as Partners in Ending Hunger: Part One
March 28, 2014
“We have to personalize hunger. If you can’t find passion for the cause, you have to find someone
who you know and care about who is hungry at your school or church and think about them.” – High
School Student and Organizer Against Hunger
Students and educators across Iowa are
developing innovative ways to reduce hunger in
their communities while developing the skills and
knowledge to make a lifelong contribution to the
fight against hunger. Many high school students
and their teachers partner with local nonprofit
groups and businesses to reduce hunger through
service learning activities.
In Clay-Central-Everly, an agricultural educator
worked with two student FFA officers to organize
a Hunger Summit for students and members of
the community. Despite winter weather, over 100
people participated in their Hunger Summit on February 17 th . The Hunger Summit included a series of
five 20-minute workshops in which participants learned about the local backpack program for hungry
kids, tips and tricks for communicating about hunger through social media, the Farm to Fork program
at Iowa State University, issues and opportunities in Iowa agriculture, and the National FFA “Running
on Empty” hunger simulation. Senior management
with Elanco Animal Health gave a keynote address,
and participants were supported to continue raising
awareness and encouraging action against hunger
through Elanco’s nation-wide #Feedthe9 initiative.
In Boone, a high school senior worked with Iowa-
based Outreach, Inc., the school’s talented and
gifted coordinator, and eighth-grade students to
organize a community hunger banquet raising
awareness and funds for community development in
Tanzania. About 75 people battled winter weather to
attend the Boone Hunger Banquet, where they
participated in an educational hunger simulation,
learned about Outreach and its work in Tanzania, raised $756 to send Tanzanian children to school
and equip a kitchen at a newly built children’s feeding center in Tanzania.
Students and adults from the community also discussed next steps, and there is substantial interest
in sponsoring an Outreach, Inc. meal-packaging event to provide meals for hungry people in the
Boone area and overseas.
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