Mar 20, 2023 | Featured, In the News
Courtesy of Warren County Record
It’s rare to find a student who fully exemplifies the attributes leadership, dedication, and academics, but Warrenton High School student Grace Schlansker may be that student.
Schlansker is an officer for Warrenton’s FFA Club, and co-led the club’s recent Meals of Hope campaign, which fundraised and packaged 20,000 meal servings to be distributed to local food pantries. She is also a high-performing student who plans to graduate high school with two-year’s-worth of college credits.
Schlansker is currently enrolled in college-level classes in accounting, sociology, literature, algebra, animal science, art appreciation and anthropology.
“My goal is to be able to have most of my general education credits out of the way. As I sit right now, I already have 40 credit hours. I’ll be pretty much a junior when I go into college,” Schlansker noted. “I want to be a vet, and I want to reduce my time as much as possible. If I have the drive right now to work like that, hopefully it will help me in the long run.”
Schlansker is relatively new to Warrenton, having moved schools in her junior year from Timberland in Wentzville. She explained that she joined FFA because she wanted to be on the club’s trapshooting team, but that it turned out to be a school community where she was supported and encouraged to become more involved.
“I found that I love it a lot, and want to keep being involved,” Schlansker commented.
Q: What did you do to help plan Meals of Hope?
“We were in charge of the logistics of how many sponsors each student needed to get … and we picked a date and decided the logistics (for meal packing). In order to get the word out, we made fliers and each student got those. And then I was interviewed on the radio and spoke there about it.”
Q: What other FFA activities are you involved in?
“I’m the assistant historian, so I’m currently working on the scrapbook that records all of our events for the year.”
Q: Is it tough to manage all your college classes and activities?
“There are some days where it definitely is challenging. I call those ‘dance it out’ kind of days, where you just dance just because it’s too much, so you just sit there and dance for a bit.”
Q: How do you stay organized?
“I’m definitely a list person.”
Q: Does anything else help you balance everything?
“It sounds weird, but being able to work. At work at a vet clinic in Wentzville. And I have my own animals … just being out there with them and feeding them at morning and night is a stress reliever.”
Q: Where are you going to college?
“The University of Missouri — Mizzou.”
Q: Is there any advice that you would give to younger students?
“Find your passion and run with it. That’s pretty cliche, but it holds true.
“Then my second piece of advice would be that even if you’re not super excited about the classes you’re in now … it will get better. Once you find something you love, it will be great.”
Favorite food: Fruit
Favorite movie: “The Notebook”
Favorite show: “Gilmore Girls”
Favorite music: Older country music
Favorite destination: My grandparents’ cottage in Chautauqua, Illinois
Learn More about Meals of Hope
Ready to make a difference in your community? To learn more about Meals of Hope, read more here. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Mar 20, 2023 | Uncategorized
Courtesy of WGNSRadio
(Murfreesboro) Rutherford County government and Board of Education employees packed over 55,000 Meals of Hope on Saturday (3/18/2023). More than 150 volunteers gathered in groups to pack fortified pasta with tomato sauce that will be distributed to various non-profit organizations, food banks, charities, and ministries across Rutherford County.
Emily Cox, who helps facilitate the meal-packing events, said, “When we learned that one in six children in Tennessee face hunger every day, we knew we wanted to help somehow. We are so excited to partner with Rutherford County employees to pack meals to help feed Rutherford County.”
The Meals of Hope were distributed to local agencies as an economical resource that will provide nutritional solutions to aid in the fight against hunger. Each packet contains enough food to provide six meals.
Sonya Stephenson, Rutherford County Chief of Human Resources, noted that the county had representatives from Animal Services, Ambulance Service, Blackman Elementary, Blackman Middle, Blackman High, Buchanan Elementary, Building Codes, Cedar Grove Elementary, Central Magnet, Christiana Middle, Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, County Clerk’s Office, Circuit Judge Law Clerk, Correctional Work Center, Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Insurance & Risk Management, Mayor’s Office, McFadden, Oakland High, Office of Information Technology, Riverdale High, Rock Springs Middle, Rockvale Elementary, Rockvale High, Rocky Fork Middle, Roy Waldron, Rutherford County Board of Education Central Office, Rutherford County Bus Drivers, Sheriff’s Office, Trustee’s Office, and Youth Services who volunteered their time to give back to the community they serve.
In addition, constitutional officers were present packing meals for their community: County Commissioner Jonathan Beverly, County Commissioner Hope Oliver, County Clerk Lisa Crowell, County Mayor Joe Carr, County School Board Chair Tammy Sharp, County School Board member Frances Rosales, and County Trustee Teb Batey. Mayor Joe Carr reflected, “This is an example of the greatest resource in Rutherford County, the people. We are fortunate to live in a community where neighbors help neighbors.”
Meals of Hope President and CEO Stephen Popper, said, “We are thankful and appreciative of the support provided by Rutherford County employees to help us combat the hunger epidemic.”
Meals of Hope is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to bringing people together to fight the hunger epidemic. It was founded in 2007, and has packed over 80-million meals that have been donated to communities in need across the nation and around the world.
Learn More about Meals of Hope
Ready to make a difference in your community? To learn more about Meals of Hope, read more here. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Jan 31, 2023 | Featured, In the News
Courtesy of CBS19 News
LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — Instead of taking the day off from school, Louisa County Public Schools students came together to package meals for the Local Resource Council.
A day like this is a part of Louisa County’s Asynchronous day program, where students volunteer at various places across the county to make a difference on their day off.
“What makes these days so impactful is that we get to serve our community, we get to model giving back, and we actually get to learn outside the classroom,” said Heather Spaid, the director of elementary education for LCPS.
On this Asynchronous day, 300 students packaged macaroni and cheese meals, in partnership with Meals of Hope.
Each student had a special role, ranging from pouring the macaroni to sealing the bag to making boxes. They worked together and packaged more than 5,000 meals, which fit into more than 100 boxes. Each box also contained a positive handwritten note.
“I think that community events should be a part of the curriculum. I would love the Virginia Department of Education to adopt days like this, so that we can continue to teach our children they’re not too little to give back,” Spaid added.
Doing something as small as packaging food helps students realize the difference they are able to make in their community.
“You know our asynchronous days are all about providing community service opportunities for our students, families to come out, and give back to the community,” said LCPS Superintendent Doug Straley. “And Louisa is a really special place to be able to give back to your community is so important. And helping these students understand the importance is what these days are all about.”
The next asynchronous day will take place in February, and the school division plans to package another 5,000 meals and continue making a difference in the lives of people in the community.
Learn More about Meals of Hope
Ready to make a difference in your community? To learn more about Meals of Hope, read more here. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Jan 20, 2023 | Featured, In the News
Courtesy of ABC-7 News
NAPLES, Fla. — In honor of the first week of 2023, More Explores has dedicated the week to popular New Year’s resolutions!
If you are looking to volunteer more in 2023, Meals of Hope in Naples is always looking for volunteers.
They have several ways that volunteers can help. Monday through Friday, Meals of Hope provides food for food pantries across Lee and Collier Counties. These food pantries need to be manned by volunteers to distribute the food!
They also need volunteers to make bags of dry goods to distribute daily!
Learn More about Meals of Hope
Ready to make a difference in your community? To learn more about Meals of Hope, read more here. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Jan 20, 2023 | In the News
The Park Rapids National Honor Society packed 10,000 meals on Wednesday, Dec. 21 for Meals of Hope.
Courtesy of Park Rapids Enterprise
Members of Park Rapids Area High School’s National Honor Society donned their gay apparel, from Christmas sweaters to hairnets, Wednesday while packing vegetable-and-rice soup mixes for local people in need.
According to club advisor Jacob Hutchins, about 50 students helped out, measuring rice, vegetables and seasonings into labeled bags and heat-sealing them for the organization Meals of Hope.
“It will go to people that need it in our area,” he said. “We’ve got a whole assembly line.”
Teacher Amber Seibert said the club’s goal for the day was to pack 10,000 meals. Seibert also acknowledged that community groups donated money to purchase food and supplies for the project.
Learn More about Meals of Hope
Looking to feed the hungry in your community? To learn more about Meals of Hope, read more here. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
