New Food Pals program targets Grundy County students from preschool to 12th grade

Bright Futures Trenton
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A kickoff fundraiser will be held on June 3rd for the new Bright Futures Trenton Food Pals. The event will be at the Trenton Hy-Vee from 10 to 2 o’clock.

Community members can donate money or food items. They can also donate by getting a $10 grab bag from Hy-Vee.

Food Pals is replacing Backpack Buddies. The new food assistance program will be for Grundy County youth in preschool through the 12th grade.

Bright Futures Trenton reports 100 Grundy County students in kindergarten through sixth grade received weekend food assistance through the Community Food Pantry of Grundy County this past school year. There were also nine preschoolers receiving weekend food assistance through Bright Futures.

There has not been a school-wide program to provide weekend food assistance for students in seventh through 12th grades.

The free and reduced-price lunch rate for the Trenton R-9 School District was 49% this past school year.

Feeding America reports 20.4% of Grundy County youth under the age of 18 are food insecure. The state average is 17.5%.

Bright Futures Trenton wants to raise $30,000 for next school year. The anticipated cost of Food Pals for one student for the school year is $200.

Donations can be mailed to Bright Futures Trenton at Post Office Box 593 in Trenton, Missouri 64683. They can also be made through PayPal on the Bright Futures Trenton Facebook page.

Bright Futures Advisory Board members will be available at the Food Pals kick-off on June 3rd to provide more information on how someone can help children in the community.


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Jennifer Thies

https://www.kttn.com/

Jennifer’s interest in radio began at a young age. She started as a news reporter at KTTN in January 2017, but previously worked almost a year and a half as an on-air announcer and with news at the NPR affiliate KXCV/KRNW, which serves Northwest Missouri. Jennifer was born and raised in St. Joseph, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Science in Mass Media: Broadcast Production with an Emphasis in Audio Production from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.