Youth lead, communities win with the Minnesota 4-H Food Partner Challenge

The Minnesota 4-H Food Partner Challenge award provides funds to 4-H clubs and county/tribal 4-H programs to partner with a local food shelf or nutrition organization to organize a healthy food or essential supply drive in their community.

The Pleasant Busy Bees 4-H Club challenged the students of Ridgeway Community School in Winona County to collect non-perishable food items from their local grocery store and pledged to match each food item collected. Partnering with volunteers from Merchants Bank’s 10 Days of Giving program, they assured the timely arrival of items to the Winona County food pantry.

It's just one example of 58 Minnesota 4-H Food Partner Challenge projects, totaling $29,000 of funds provided by Compeer Financial and many other generous donors. Five-hundred dollar awards went to 4-H clubs and groups in 37 counties across the state, almost doubling the impact of the 31 projects from 24 counties awarded in 2023. 

“Our club members counted the donated food items at our December club meeting,” says Melinda Growth, volunteer club leader of the 4-H Pleasant Busy Bees. “Between the students and the items our club purchased, we were able to donate 1,445 non-perishable food items to our local Winona County food pantry.”

Youth lead the effort

Reports, like the above, are coming in from across Minnesota. Many other clubs focused on providing a holiday meal or birthday cake kit for families that may otherwise not be able to celebrate with the foods they wish for. Youth, during their 4-H club meetings, decide on their plan and work with adult guides, like Growth, to submit an application to University of Minnesota Extension, which operates the 4-H program.

Youth-led service projects must be completed by March 31, 2025.

A sampling of projects:

• The Delton Doers 4-H Club of Cottonwood County pledged to “squash hunger” by donating garden-grown squash to their local food shelf, along with recipes, for a holiday meal. They also talked to food shelf staff to donate additional items that they found out were most needed.
• The Cleveland Pioneers 4-H Club of Le Sueur County wrote in their application, “Growing up we’ve all heard the phrase ‘food fuels the brain.’" They focused their effort on providing healthy snack foods for their elementary school, working with the food service manager to purchase healthy snacks for those who are unable to afford a snack during the school day.
• The Clearwater County 4-H ambassador group contacted their local county food shelf, community center and local churches to provide care packages of food and other essential items to elderly and homebound individuals.
• The Otsego 4 Leaves 4-H Club of Sherburne County partnered with Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery to donate fresh, snack-sized packages of cheese curds to the CAER Elk River Food Shelf. The food shelf holds a Kids Weekend event, during which they give a bag full of nutritious groceries to families experiencing food insecurity. 4-H youth from dairy farms that ship milk to Ellsworth helped make the connections.
• The Root River Rabbits 4-H Club of Fillmore County learned that food donations decrease after the winter holidays, so they decided to “feed the love” and put bags together for families to celebrate Valentine’s Day and supplement their pantries for the month of February.