Kathlyn Wagner with Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa

SUMMARY

Kathlyn worked as a Feeding the Future Project Fellow at Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Iowa (BGCCI) to expand their Feeding the Future program, which provides consistent, nutritious foods for young people in the community who need it most. The program currently consists of three main parts: snacks and meals during Club time, take-home food bags, and Club food pantries. BGCCI is made up of 8 club sites in the Greater Des Moines area.

OVERVIEW

• Visited each club site and met each full-time staff member and many part-time staff

• Organized the food pantries at each of the club sites to make it visually appealing for families

• Organized a space for club sites to have a food pantry that currently did not have a space for food

• Brainstormed how to avoid expiring food while also providing fresh food for families

• Brainstormed ways to improve documentation/statistics from each club site about usage— such as including Spanish in tracking documents

• Compiled recipes and programs for different age groups– incorporating food pantry items, and implementing these programs at club sites

• Developed, enhanced, and led Cooking Club Programs at 4 of the club sites, where students and families learn how to make budget friendly, nutritious meals

• Created and distributed weekend take-home meal bags to families at each club

IMPACT

At the start of the summer, only 3 of the 8 club sites had a food pantry on site. By the end of the summer, 6 Club sites had a food pantry on site, with the 2 other clubs having a place for food distribution. 255 take-home meal bags were distributed to families at each club site and 2,523 lbs of food from the Food Bank of Iowa were donated to the clubs.

---

Article written by Kathlyn