More Than Just A Food Drive: Drive to Feed Kids Grants Help Lighten The Load To Feed Neighbors In Need
By: Ashley McCarty –
The members of the Cass Career Center FFA are positively impacting the lives of students and families in their district facing hunger. One in seven Cass County students and families regularly face hunger.
For the fifth year, the Cass Career Center FFA partnered with the Wal-Center 4-H Club to purchase fruit for the Harrisonville Schools Food Assistance or “Backpack” Program. The Backpack program serves 125 families a month in the Harrisonville School District. Without the donation, many kids would not have access to fresh fruit during winter months.
Using funds provided through a Missouri Farmers Care Drive to Feed Kids grant, the FFA chapter and 4-H club purchased oranges for families needing assistance in January. They followed up by purchasing enough grapes to fill the need for fruit in March. Maximizing the power of partnership, the Cass Career Center FFA provided fruit for families in December. The Harrisonville Bright Futures Committee donated fruit to additional families.
With many hands lightening the load, volunteers from Cass County Farm Bureau stepped in to help the youth secure and pack the fruit. Student members of the Cass Career Center FFA organized the fruit. Wal-Center 4-H Club members and their families packed the grapes.“This was a great project to get two great youth organizations together to benefit our community – the Wal-Center 4-H Club and Cass Career Center FFA Chapter,” said Jason Dieckhoff, ag instructor and FFA Advisor for Cass Career Center FFA. “It is important for any age of youth to understand the need of their local community and how important it is to come together to work to solve that need.”
The Cass Career Center FFA’s impact on food insecurity extends far beyond the borders of the school district. The Cass Career Center FFA Chapter donates a total of 400 man-hours of community service locally. In addition to the food packing, 2024-2025 service projects have included planting flowers in parks, petting zoos, volunteering for local civic organizations, and helping set up for the Log Cabin Festival.
The FFA chapter annually participates in the Missouri FFA Day of Service in partnership with the Missouri Farmers Care Drive to Feed Kids at the Missouri State Fair. FFA members from across the state spend one of their last days of summer packing over 175,000 meals for families facing hunger.
Missouri Farmers Care is proud to partner with 4-H clubs, FFA chapters, CTE and collegiate organizations to provide grants to fight food insecurity across the state. Grant applications open annually in the fall with events happening late fall and throughout the spring. Missouri Farmers Care in partnership with ADM, Brownfield Ag News and leaders across Missouri agriculture, hosts the Drive to Feed Kids annually. Missouri agriculture has raised over 13 million meals since 2017 through the Drive To Feed Kids.
Collective Impact:Since 2020, the Cass Career Center FFA has:
Involved 110 members and over 20 volunteers in their project
Invested over 100 hours to address hunger in their community
Provided nearly 1,400 pounds of fruit for over 600 food-insecure classmates and their families