PARKVILLE, Mo. (KCTV) – This past winter has left many families with expensive energy bills that could force parents to decide if they want to keep the lights on or feed their children this month.
In Clay and Platte County, the non-profit Feed Northland Kids is making sure no family has to risk going hungry just to stay warm or vice versa. That’s why KCTV has teamed up with them in our April 3-Degrees Guaranteed project.
When Kim Hartsock’s children entered the North Kansas City School District, she realized ‘there’s a lot of food insecurity’.
As a mom of two, Hartsock’s family was also hit hard by inflation on groceries after the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, that produce went by the wayside, meats went by the wayside.
The first part of the month was a lot of bills and very little room for food,” Hartsock recalled.
She never thought the answer in hard times would be right underneath Park University. That’s where Feed Northland Kids stores most of their donations to send out to school districts.
Those school districts include Excelsior Springs School District, Kearney School District, Liberty Public Schools, North Kansas City School District, Smithville School District, North Platte R-1 School District, Park Hill School District, Platte County R-III School District, West Platte R-II School District.
“They reach out to us and need our support, and we work with the schools to make sure those students get the resources that they need,” Executive Director Gwen O’Brien said.
Feed Northland Kids goes way further than settling instant hunger pains. In their pantry, you can find something from every single food group there is. That way families can think long-term while feeding their children something nutritious.
“It’s really grocery sacks of shelf stable food as well as snacks,” O’Brien explained. “Each bag has a fresh loaf of bread from a bakery, frozen proteins, either ground beef or chicken. We also do a really large box of fresh produce.”
“It helped definitely ease that financial strain,” Hartsock added. “It was just nice to have the good healthy stuff, but also canned stuff so when we got in a bind, we could save that for the tighter times.”
Feed Northland Kids also partners with Harvesters to provide ‘BackSnacks’ to Northland elementary students on weekends and school breaks when they have no access to lunch at school. Each ‘BackSnack’ contains four pounds of protein, shelf-stable food. A pack includes two breakfasts, two meals and more snacks, plus at least one box of milk, one fruit and one vegetable. ‘BackSnacks’ help to bridge the gap from Friday to Monday.
This April, KCTV aims to donate up to $1500 to help Feed Northland Kids reach as many families as possible in the final stretch of the school year. So, students can focus on their grades without going hungry. You too can help their cause by clicking here.
“Each one of the community food kit bags cost us about $25, which is far less than a family could purchase that for if they were going to the grocery store,” O’Brien told KCTV. “I have confidence in your weather team that they’re going to get it right on the money.”
For more on KCTV’s 3-Degree Guarantee program click here.
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