Fighting Food Insecurity: Two Clubs, Thousands Of Servings, Immeasurable Impact
By: Emma Alexander -
4-H clubs in #Agri-Ready Designated Newton County participated in Missouri 4-H’s #4-HFeedingMissouri campaign as partners of Missouri Farmers Care’s Drive to Feed Kids. Two clubs provided protein and food resources for 3,100 meals to programs that make a difference in their local communities. These Newton County projects show how the Drive to Feed Kids is more than just a food drive, it is an opportunity for youth to share resources at hand to help food insecure neighbors in need.
Giving Purpose to Available Resources
Round Prairie 4-H parent volunteer, Maddie Van Doran, shares that her son, Kenton, donated his show pig to his 4-H club and the club chose to donate the pork to local food security ministries. Soon to follow, another pig was purchased by the club to meet more community need.
“Most of the pork that was donated by our club had never been out of Newton County,” Maddie says. The Van Doran kids enjoyed sharing about the care of the locally-grown pork when delivering their club’s donations.
The Round Prairie 4-H Club has 35 members, so a resource they have is plenty of hands. In addition to the pork donations, the entire club worked together to pre-assemble breakfast casseroles for neighbors in need.
“The breakfast casserole project was great because every 4-Her had hands to participate and contribute to our donation,” Maddie described.
Stronger Together: 4-H and the Drive to Feed Kids
The foundational mission of 4-H is to create opportunities for youth. One of the aspects that makes this mission so valuable is its absolute versatility. Members can choose to engage in activities that they are interested in or that are important to their community and ‘world’. The Drive to Feed Kids has the same mission: encouraging youth to think creatively and utilize available resources to craft solutions that address local food security needs. This common purpose is why Missouri 4-H’s annual #4-HFeedngMissouri project has been a partner of the Drive to Feed Kids since 2019. Since that time, the collaboration has raised 9.3 million meals to benefit the Feeding Missouri statewide network of food banks and local pantries.
The Results Are In
The Round Prairie 4-H Club, with leadership from club leader Kelly Shilling, donated 1,066 servings of pork to the Restoration Life Center. The Restoration Life Center seeks to develop productive members for the Neosho community through relief and re-establishment. The club also donated 1,764 servings of pork and breakfast casseroles to feed 20 people at Watered Gardens Ministries in Joplin. Under the guidance of club leader Rhonda Helm, Newton County’s Lucky Clover 4-H Club donated 250 meals benefiting the Seneca Food Pantry, which aids qualifying families.
Drive to Feed Kids Grants
These Newton County 4-H projects were supported by Drive to Feed Kids grants, funded by the Missouri Farmers Care Foundation and the Missouri 4-H Foundation. In 2025, more than $15,000 in grants were awarded to more than 40 Missouri FFA, 4-H, Career and Technical Education, and collegiate organizations to identify community needs, craft solutions, and execute results. This is the fifth year the Foundation has provided grants as part of the annual Drive to Feed Kids. The 2026 Drive to Feed Grant application window will open in September; details can be found at https://mofarmerscare.com/driveminigrant/ .
What is #4HFeedingMo? 4-H Feeding Missouri is an annual initiative (January-April) that brings awareness to the issue of food insecurity, encouraging 4-H members and volunteers to act in their own communities to fight hunger. County 4-H programs engage in friendly competition to see which county raises the most meals for food insecure families through food drives, monetary donations, and volunteering time at local food pantries. In the last four years, 4-H clubs have raised over a million meals to feed Missouri families. The meals donated are recorded as a part of Missouri Farmers Care’s annual Drive to Feed Kids.
More About the Drive
One in six Missouri children face hunger and the Drive to Feed Kids offers every Missourian an opportunity to make a difference. The program annually raises resources and awareness to address needs faced by food insecure families. The Drive raised more than 711,000 meals in 2024 and has raised over 13 million meals since 2017. Companies, organizations, and individuals are invited to join the Drive. Details and a giving link are found at mofarmerscare.com/drive/. Donations support the grants for local projects, Hogs for Hunger, FFA Day of Service meal packing and other efforts of the Feeding Missouri network of food banks who work daily to alleviate hunger.
#Agri-Ready Designated Newton County. #Agri-Ready Designation recognizes the willingness of county leaders to protect, promote, and develop the county’s agricultural economy. Agriculture, food and forestry contributes $471.4 million in total value-added products, supports more than 6,600 jobs, and adds $520.4 million annually to Newton County household incomes according to the 2021 Missouri Economic Contribution of Agriculture and Forestry Study.
