A group of New Hampshire high school students got their hands dirty Saturday morning on a dirt field in Manchester. Carrying seeds and farming tools, the groups planted rows of vegetables destined for the shelves of the New Hampshire Food Bank. The sophomores were participating in a weekend program for HOBY NH, an organization that teaches teens the importance of leadership and community service. Finley, a student from Pembroke, started his day clearing the land with a hoe. “It really creates a sense of community leadership,” Finley said. “We learned a lot about hunger and what hunger is like for hundreds of thousands of people across the state.” The seeds being spread have a direct impact on every community the students call home, including many of their classmates. A new report from Feeding America shows that food insecurity is affecting an increasing number of people in New Hampshire, and children are at greatest risk of going hungry. The report found that more than 130,000 residents, nearly 10% of the state’s population, are food insecure. That number includes more than 13% of children statewide. One of the areas with the greatest need, according to the report, is Coos County, where nearly 1 in 5 children is food insecure. The garden project has been a fixture of the HOBY program since 2016. Its alumni, including several who now volunteer to organize and lead the weekend’s activities, said the garden encompasses the organization’s founding principles. “I’m a 2016 alumnus, so I was one of the first students to do this project,” said Kyle Mitchell, one of the program’s co-chairs. “I thought this was very impactful for me personally because I haven’t had any personal experience with food insecurity, but the speakers we had during my seminar really demonstrated the need for help and how prevalent it is across the state.” The New Hampshire Food Bank serves as a central hub providing food to more than 400 nonprofit organizations across the state.
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
A group of New Hampshire high school students got their hands dirty Saturday morning on a dirt field in Manchester.
Carrying seeds and farming tools, the groups planted rows of vegetables destined for the shelves of the New Hampshire Food Bank.
The sophomores were participating in a weekend program for HOBY NH, an organization that teaches teens the importance of leadership and community service.
Finley, a student from Pembroke, started his day clearing the land with a hoe.
“It really creates a sense of community leadership,” Finley said. “We learned a lot about hunger and what hunger looks like for hundreds of thousands of people across the state.”
The seeds being spread have a direct impact on every community the students call home, including many of their classmates. A new report from Feeding America shows that food insecurity is affecting an increasing number of people in New Hampshire, and children are at greatest risk of going hungry.
The report found that more than 130,000 residents, nearly 10% of the state’s population, are food insecure. That number includes more than 13% of children statewide.
One of the areas with the greatest need, according to the report, is Coos County, where nearly 1 in 5 children is food insecure.
The garden project has been a fixture of the HOBY program since 2016. Its alumni, including several who now volunteer to organize and lead the weekend’s activities, said the garden encompasses the organization’s founding principles.
“I’m a 2016 alumnus, so I was one of the first students to do this project,” said Kyle Mitchell, one of the program’s co-chairs. “I thought this was very impactful for me personally because I haven’t had any personal experience with food insecurity, but the speakers we had during my seminar really demonstrated the need for help and how prevalent it is across the state.”
The New Hampshire Food Bank serves as a central hub providing food to more than 400 nonprofit organizations across the state.
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