Media Contact:
Madison Lafrenz
641-640-7952
mlafrenz@iowaselect.com
Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation Hits the Road to Fight Hunger for 21,150 Children in 112 Schools
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (November 16, 2022) – With 1 in 8 children facing food insecurity, the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation and Iowa Select Farms are driving the change to help end childhood hunger. Through the Power Snack(tm) program, Iowa Select Farms employees will be giving ham and bread coupons, along with pork sticks, to teachers and schools for distribution to their students. Now in its tenth year, the program annually supplies enough coupons to purchase 1,000,000 ham sandwiches that provide quick, easy and healthy meal solutions for kids who may not have enough food at home.
“The Power Snack(tm) program allows us to send coupons home with students who come from food insecure families,” said Tony Stalzer, At-Risk Coach at Colo-Nesco Elementary. “These past two years have been tough on all, but for families on lower incomes, the Power Snack(tm) program has helped ease the burden of buying groceries, especially around holidays and extended breaks from school. Thanks to Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation for this program.”
Between October 31st and November 17th, Iowa Select Farms employees will distribute Power Snack(tm) Teacher Supply Kits to schools across Iowa. In total, 112 schools and 21,150 students across 40 counties will be recipients of this program. Power Snack(tm) helps reduce childhood hunger in Iowa by providing kids the means to purchase nutritious food to prepare at home. Four times throughout the school year, children identified by the school as food insecure receive an $8 coupon for deli ham and a $3 coupon for a loaf of whole wheat bread.
Bundles of 200 pork sticks were added by the Foundation to each school delivery to provide a non-perishable, immediate infusion of protein for students, resulting in hunger relief and an open door to engagement in the classroom.
“We are eager to be back on the road visiting schools for this year’s Power Snack(tm) and are dedicated to continuing the fight against childhood hunger in Iowa,” said Madison Lafrenz, Program Manager for the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation. “Teachers submit to us the number of students considered at-risk for food insecurity, which can vary by community. Sometimes it is 20 percent of total school enrollment, other times, it’s as high as 80 percent. We repeatedly hear feedback from teachers and nurses that our program positively impacts the lives of these children and their families.”
About the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation
The Hansens, who founded Iowa Select Farms and New Modern Concepts in Iowa Falls, Iowa, established the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation in 2006 to relieve hunger, support military families and strengthen efforts to find a cure for childhood cancer while improving the quality of life for cancer patients and their families.
About Iowa Select Farms
Iowa Select Farms is the largest pork producer in Iowa and is committed to responsibly producing safe, nutritious, and high-quality pork for its customers and the food companies they serve. The company has 242,500 sows and annually produces 1.5B pounds of pork. With 800 swine farms across the state, Iowa Select Farms is one of the leading economic engines to Iowa’s rural communities through employing more than 1,200 people, contracting with more than 650 farmers and supporting hundreds of local businesses throughout the state.
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