Power Snack Rounds Out the Day in Rockwell City
posted on Friday, October 30, 2020
Rounding out the day in Rockwell with a visit to West Fork Schools to deliver 1,200 Power Snack coupons and 200 Pork Sticks!
With one in seven Iowa children facing food insecurity, Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation are fighting back with ham sandwiches, pork sticks and educational resources for teachers. These nutritious, protein-packed goodies are through the Foundation’s Power Snack™ program, which has been helping food-insecure Iowa children for eight years.
To get Power Snack into the hands of qualifying students, we work with teachers, administrators, nurses and BackPack Program coordinators. To date, 2,180 students in Cerro Gordo County, either on free/reduced meal programming or identified by their schools as at-risk, have received Power Snack. That’s enough resources to make 104,640 ham sandwiches.
Why ham? According to the National Pork Board, pork loin, ham is an excellent source of thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, phosphorus and protein, and a good source of zinc and potassium. Big words, we know, but nutrients that are crucial in both the physical and cognitive development of children.
Last year, the Foundation added pork sticks to provide a portable, immediate infusion of protein to curb hunger and help children focus on learning, which was met with great enthusiasm.
“We surveyed teachers and administrators who participated in Power Snack™ and made some modifications to the program this year,” said Allyson Ladd, Communications Specialist at Iowa Select Farms. “The teachers spoke of the power of the immediate result of the pork sticks, so we have doubled that donation this year to 20,000 sticks.”
292 students at West Fork will receive Power Snack coupons and Pork Sticks this year. A donation valued at $9,600 and enough resources to make 14,400 ham sandwich “Power Snacks”.
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