$7,200 To Bring Food Trucks To EUPArea
By Amy Polk

The Pickford Chapter of Family, Community, and Career Leaders of America (FCCLA) has set its sights on feeding as many as 400 local families, and will host a February 1 "Dress Down Day" for local businesses to raise money.

Members of the organization need to raise $7,200 to bring a Feed the Children delivery truck to the Eastern Upper Peninsula. The truck would contain enough food and household supplies to feed 400 families of four for one week, said FCCLA Coordinator Kathy Jacobson.

"This winter is going to be a tough one for families, with gas prices as high as they are, and especially with the cost to heat their homes," Mrs. Jacobson said. "If we can raise the money to bring the truck here, it would help a lot of people."

The food and supplies would be given to local emergency food pantries in Chippewa and Mackinac counties and be distributed on an "as-needed" basis to people who have requested help.

Area businesses have been sent letters requesting participation in Dress Down Day. Employers who participate in the program were asked by FCCLA to offer their employees the choice to donate $2 to wear jeans or casual attire to work Friday, February 1. Any business or person who has not been contacted and wants to join the Dress Down Day can contact Mrs. Jacobson or FCCLA members.

Anyone can donate at any time during the fundraising drive by sending money to Pickford Public Schools at P.O. Box 278, Pickford, MI 49774 or by contacting Mrs. Jacobson at 647-6285. The project's coordinators are Pickford High School students Emily Johnson, Leigha Dilday, and Jealinn Soeltner.

Feed the Children is an international, nonprofit relief organization that delivers food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities to individuals, children, and families who lack such essentials because of famine, war, poverty, or natural disaster. The 28-year-old organization is one of the world's largest, and last year shipped 129 million pounds of food and supplies to people in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries.

Each year FCCLA, a youth leadership organization that encourages charitable activities, selects a National Outreach Project to assist throughout the year. Pickford's chapter participates in the National Outreach Project by organizing local activities and fundraisers, Mrs. Jacobson said. The chapter has participated in similar projects to raise awareness of homelessness and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in recent years.

The 2007-2008 National Outreach Project is Feed the Children. Only one truck will come to Michigan, and the Eastern Upper Peninsula was picked as the state's designated delivery area if the Pickford chapter can meet its goal. If $7,200 cannot be raised locally by the May 31 deadline, the money will go toward FCCLA's national project to send at least 10 food delivery trucks to the Orlando, Florida area, or to send a truck to another place in Michigan.

The money raised will cover the cost of delivering the food and supplies, Mrs. Jacobson said, since Feed the Children buys the food. Corporate warehouses also donate in-kind contributions of food and supplies to the organization.

The items are distributed through 50,000 feeding centers, homeless shelters, churches, and organizations throughout the United States, or through local efforts that provide supplies directly to the people who need them.

Mrs. Jacobson said raising $7,200 is an ambitious goal for the Pickford students, but she believes the rewards are worth the effort. In exchange for raising the delivery fee, the Eastern Upper Peninsula would receive $35,000 to $50,000 in food and supplies.

The delivery would include 400 pre-packaged boxes of food, another 400 boxes of personal care and hygiene items like paper products, toothpaste, and soap, and another two pallets of miscellaneous items.

"I don't want these kids to just know how to fund-raise," Mrs. Jacobson said. "I want them to see where their money goes and how their efforts help people."

She believes the most effective illustration of that is to adopt a project that helps the most people in the area where the students live. The students have started meeting with representatives from area food pantries to learn more about the needs of the communities they help.

The area-wide Dress Down Day is the group's first major fundraising event, and FCCLA members will organize other activities and drives through the school year.