Lamar FFA Chapter Participates in Lead 2 Feed Hunger Project

Lead 2 Feed is a student leadership program, which established the challenge called “The World Hunger Leadership Challenge.” This challenge was created by the USA TODAY Charitable foundation and the Life foundation. The foundation is determined to encourage high school and middle school students to hone leadership skills through launching a service- learning project that solves World Hunger issues. Lamar FFA chapter members Sarah Blain (Chapter Historian) and Lauren Tinnes (Chapter Sentinel) have accepted the challenge! They have joined forces with the Health Opportunity Prevention Education (HOPE) center, a local non-profit organization. The duo hopes to have their project place in the top three in order to win money for the HOPE Center.

The motto for the project is “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a life time.” Blain and Tinnes have started their project at the Hope Center with the goal to create awareness for how many kids are struggling in the world financially. “We are trying to communicate to kids that poverty can be avoided through budgeting and spending money wisely,” says Blain. They also want to teach them responsibility by keeping track of their things, cleaning up after themselves, and having to budget and pay for their own supplies. Communication skills will also be developed as students work together on their projects and agree with how they are going to make their “business” successful.

The children who attend the HOPE Center are creating their own businesses and making a craft of their choice. Blain and Tinnes will teach them to budget for their future. Each child or group is given $50 in HOPE bucks to buy the supplies to make their crafts, each week they can earn more HOPE bucks. At the end of the year each business created by the children will sell their crafts. Blain and Tinnes will buy one of each of the crafts and they will be auctioned off at a banquet. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to a charity dedicated to ending world hunger. The community will be invited to the banquet and auction, with more details to come.

A panel of qualified judges selected by Lift a Life Foundation, Yum! Foundation and the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation will judge all eligible Lead 2 Feed project entries according to the following criteria. 1.) Demonstration of “Strategy, Structure and Culture” – 30%. 1 a.) Strategy: Clearly state what you set out to accomplish. 1.b.)Structure: Show how you put the right resources and processes in place to meet your goal, execute your plan. 1 c.) Culture: Tell us / show us how you created a supportive, engaging and encouraging team environment. 2.) Creativity and innovation of the solution -35%. 3.) Impact on ending hunger -35%. Lead 2 Feed is giving out awards of a maximum of $500,000, which is split up into three placing. The first place team will win $25,000 for their hunger project charity, the next 10 teams will win $5,000 each for their project, and 425 teams will win $1,000 each for their project. Any money won in the Lead 2Feed challenge by the Lamar FFA Chapter will be donated to the HOPE Center.

The Lamar FFA Chapter would like to thank the following sponsors for making this project possible: Big R, Air Care, Bret Buxton Farms, Wallace Gas and Oil, Kathy Austin, Guyla Temple, and Kirby Vacuums.

By Swayzee Bellomy, Lamar FFA Reporter