Going hungry does more than impact a child’s physical wellbeing.
It can affect their mental health as well as their success in school.
Feed Our Rural Kids or FORK wants to make sure kids in Vilas County don’t go hungry.
FORK President Perry Pokrandt says that’s a challenge in the Northwoods.
“They live in an area that is an economically challenging place for families to raise kids,” said Pokrandt.
Since it started in 2019, FORK has mostly been supporting families in the Northland Pines School District.
It offers four different programs to address the different needs of families. Now, those same programs are available to families in the Phelps School District.
“Phelps is part of this neck of the woods as you might say and this kind of puts a piece in place,” said Pokrandt.
Pokrandt says FORK works with school staff to identify which families need the support and which program might work best for them.
“The entire educational staff will be part of a team who hopefully we will keep food insecurity and challenge in front of their kids top of mind,” he said.
You can learn more about the program FORK offers and how to support them on FORK’s website.
