Hailey Meinert, Sleepy Eye FFA member and Leisha Martinez, Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter Historian, are ready to load boxes into cars for the Brown County Food Redistribution Line.
Maddi Helget and Nayzeth Luna, both Sleepy Eye FFA officers, hold up signs to direct people to the food redistribution line.
By: Katelyn Capacia, FFA Reporter
On Tuesday, September 22nd from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, we handed out 29,500 pounds of food to 499 families, which included 1310 people.
The food was given out each as a meat box, a dairy box, and a produce box. The items inside included, but was not limited to: MEAT BOX- chicken patties, chicken hotdogs. DAIRY BOX- milk, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, French onion dip. PRODUCE BOX – squash, cucumbers, apples, carrots.
Volunteers for the event included: 16 FFA members – Isaac Lendt, Marcus Martinez, Leisha Martinez, McKenna Dockter, Katelyn Capacia, Kyle Capacia, Maddi Helget, Morgan Hoffmann, Adam Johnson, Nayzeth Luna, Miah Brown, Presley Bauer, Gracie Sellner, Wyatt Barnes, Victoria Poplow, and Hailey Meinert. FFA Advisors – Mary Hoffmann, Hunter Manderfeld, and Adam Manderfeld as well as student teacher – Amy French. Other volunteers included: Trinity Lutheran members, Sleepy Eye Food Shelf board members, Mark Thomas Co employees, and several community members and the Sleepy Eye Police Department.
Advisor Mary Hoffmann states, “It’s hard to believe that we have helped with 3 food lines this summer and fall. We helped redistribute over 90,000 pounds of food! I am so proud of all of the officers and members who have helped with this service project. They are the muscles behind this operation, but also the heart!”
Kyle Capacia, member of Sleepy Eye FFA, adds, “For my first time volunteering for this event, I really enjoyed taking part in the food line and helping out community members. If we were able to have another one, I would definitely do this again!”
The food that was given out was part of a $3 billion USDA Food Box program. The USDA bought it from regional and local distributors who bought it from farmers and didn’t have any place to distribute it because of closings of restaurants due to COVID-19. They partnered with Second Harvest Heartland to get it into the hands of those who could use it!