Hunterdon division of Key Club fights hunger in NJ

FLEMINGTON - If you didn’t think high school students could make a difference, think again. 

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.

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 Jan. 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.

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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. Nickelodeon identifies teens who are looking to make the world a better place by giving grants so the teens can perform life-changing service projects.

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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.

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.

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“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.”

“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 urges everyone to contribute to fighting Hunger in New Jersey by educating themselves and others about the topic in addition to donating food and time to local food banks. To learn more about Hunger in New Jersey or how to help, contact your local food bank.