Seven local high schools from Hunterdon and Warren counties are teaming with the Outreach Program to package 16,000 meals to benefit the New Jersey Federation of Food Banks. Through grants, donations and their own fundraising, the clubs were able to make $4,500, which will be used to purchase the meals from Outreach.
Seven local high schools from Hunterdon and Warren counties are teaming with the Outreach Program to package 16,000 meals to benefit the New Jersey Federation of Food Banks.
Seventy volunteers from seven Key Clubs, including Delaware Valley, Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon, Phillipsburg, Voorhees, Warren Hills and Warren County Vo-Tech high schools, will get together on Saturday, January 27 to pack the 16,000 meals at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Raritan Township. The meals will be shipped to the food banks.
The grants were funded by the New Jersey Kiwanis Foundation and Nickelodeon's the HALO Movement. The Kiwanis Foundation provides Kiwanis clubs with the resources that they need to make a difference in the lives of children.
Kiwanis is the adult counterpart to Key Club and aids the high school students in service projects. As part of Nickelodeon’s commitment to recognize real kids who are making a difference in the world, the network identifies teens who are looking to make the world a better place by giving grants so the teens can perform life-changing service projects.
Out of hundreds of Key Clubs that applied from across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, only 11 were selected to receive grants from the HALO Movement, and this project was selected as one of them.
The goal of the project is to help spread awareness about hunger in New Jersey, the New Jersey District of Key Club’s District Project and reduce the number of food-insecure children in New Jersey. One in every five children in New Jersey are food-insecure, meaning that they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
By donating the meals they pack to the New Jersey Federation of Food Banks, the volunteers hope that the meals will to go to support the children and their families.
“We are eternally grateful for this donation,” said Helene Meissner, director of the NORWESCAP Food Bank in Phillipsburg and a Phillipsburg Kiwanis Club member. “And it is so inspiring to see our kids work so hard to make it happen. It really goes to show that everybody and anybody can make a difference.”
For a first year event, the Division is extremely pleased with their results and success and hope that they will be able to hold a similar event again next year.
“It is really incredible to see what we can do when we work together," said Madeleine Eichorn, lieutenant governor of the Division 13 of the New Jersey Key Club and a Hunterdon Central Key Club member.
"There are so many people out there, there are so many children, that just don’t have the resources that they need to succeed. I just hope that we made a difference and are inspiring others to do the same."
The New Jersey District of Key Club would like to urge everyone to contribute to fighting Hunger in New Jersey by educating themselves and others about the topic in addition to donating their food and time to their local food banks. If you would like to learn more about Hunger in New Jersey or how to help, contact your local food bank for more information.
The Nickelodeon HALO Movement is a new year-round pro-social initiative celebrating kids who are helping and leading others (HALO). Nickelodeon is teaming up with longstanding volunteer partners Key Club and DoSomething.org to mobilize kids to participate in service projects, for the opportunity to receive seed grants or scholarship funds for school. WeHALO.com provides information on how to participate in the Nickelodeon HALO Movement and apply for HALO grants through Key Club and DoSomething.org.
As part of the Nickelodeon HALO Movement, Key Club, a student-led volunteer organization sponsored by Kiwanis International, will provide its members with opportunities to participate in service projects that can be submitted for a chance to receive seed grants to further support their cause. DoSomething.org, the largest tech platform for young people and social change, will select monthly scholarship winners who participate in and complete their campaigns.
On WeHALO.com, the digital hub for the Nickelodeon HALO Movement, users can submit videos, photos or notes showing how they are helping and leading others, for the opportunity to be featured on the site. WeHALO.com also provides tips and information on ways to get involved in the community and allows users to share their HALO moments using #WeHALO.
The Nickelodeon HALO Movement builds on the HALO Awards, an annual concert event honoring young community leaders, and The HALO Effect, the 2016 docu-series that gave viewers an in-depth look into the inspirational stories of teens who are eager to share the issues important to them. The Nickelodeon HALO Movement is part of Nickelodeon’s commitment to recognize real kids who are making a difference in the world.
Original sources: myCentralJersey.com, Hunterdon County Democrat; Additional source: Wikipedia (I, II).
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