Students at Northeastern High School raised about $2,000 to feed those less fortunate in the community.
Northeastern agriculture teacher and Future Farmers of America adviser Jeannie Anders said the students raised enough money through different fundraisers for 26,000 meals from Meals of Hope.
“When you think about 26,000 meals staying right here in Clark County, we have such a need and to be able to help our own … We know we are helping individuals who are very close to us,” she said.
Meals of Hope is a national organization that gives volunteers an opportunity to raise money and make food packages that will be distributed to local food banks. Northeastern FFA has partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank and will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday at Northeastern High School to package the meals.
Community members are invited to join them to help package those meals.
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“They deliver the food and all the supplies,” Anders said of Meals of Hope. “We supply the money to buy those meals and the manpower to assemble those.”
Northeastern FFA raised money to support the project through a Meals of Hope jeans day for staff, a pancake breakfast, senior ag business profits, a 50/50 raffle at a Northeastern High School Basketball game, and a donation from Jim Foreman, a former Northeastern High School parent and FFA Booster who recently died.
Foreman’s grandson, Maxwell Foreman, a senior at Northeastern, helped start the initiative.
“We are getting a lot of our community to come out and help us,” he said.
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“We went to Washington D.C. and while there we did a food packing event and we packed over 60,000 meals for the D.C. area and it shocked me that you could pack that many meals and still have hungry people,” Maxwell said.
He said he’s excited to help his neighborhood and the Springfield community.
Evan Callicoat, also a senior at the high school, said he also got involved after visiting Washington D.C.
“The trip opened my eyes and and Maxwell’s eyes,” Evan said. “This issue is in our community and a lot of other communities as well.”
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The food Saturday will include dehydrated spaghetti and meatballs and will come to Northeastern in crates. Students and community members will be grouped into stations to assemble the meals.
“This should go quickly,” Anders said. “We should be done well before noon.”
She said the event will be special.
“To think that we can help folks is very important,” Anders said. “It is a community effort and it is very dear that we have a lot of people willing to help.”
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