MENDOTA, Ill. - Seventh and eighth-grade students at Northbrook Middle School in Mendota are stepping up to address food insecurity in their communities through the 4-H Food Action Academy. The 4-H Food Action Academy is a curriculum designed to help youth understand how food access impacts overall well-being and brings together students to build leadership skills.
As part of the academy, students learned that children in LaSalle County face uncertainty about where their next meal will come from, many relying on schools for daily meals. The group collaborated to develop an action plan that supports families beyond the school day. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, students organized a school-wide donation campaign for the Mendota Area Christian Food Pantry. Students fundraised for the food pantry by collecting donations in exchange for paper leaves that donors could decorate and display at the school. Each 25-cent donation helped the pantry purchase $1 worth of groceries through its buying program.
Shasta Hladovcak, 4-H & Youth Development Educator, along with teachers Sarah Henkel (eighth grade) and Brandon Scheppers (seventh grade), guided the project. Through their efforts, students raised $850, all of which was donated to the Mendota Area Christian Food Pantry to support individuals and families experiencing food insecurity.
The 4-H Food Action Academy continues to help youth develop leadership skills while making a positive impact in their communities. To learn more about 4-H opportunities, call University of Illinois Extension at 217-244-5812 or email Shasta Hladovcak at shlad@illinois.edu.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.