10,000 meals were sent out to food banks across the Warren and Henderson county area thanks to members of those counties’ 4-H.
Members packaged meals to deliver to nine food banks.
The University of Illinois Extension in Monmouth says the effort was spearheaded 4-H Federation members in effort to help families who face “food insecurity.”
Bill Million, U of I Extension 4-H youth development specialist, says “hunger is closer to home than many realize.”
He cites a 2011 report published by Feeding America, that says Illinois is 26th in the nation in terms of children facing food insecurity.
That translates to one in five kids in the state facing hunger on a regular basis, or 23 percent of Illinois youth under 18.
He says that the packaging event was held in conjunction with Illinois 4-H Feeding and Growing Our Communities, which is a subsidiary of Illini Feeding Hunger.
The rice based meals took two hours to package. This marks the 900,000th meal packaged by 4-H since 2004.
