Power Snack Program Empowers Children

posted on Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Today is the day! We're kicking off Power Snack deliveries. A program of Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation, Power Snack is aimed at reducing childhood hunger in Iowa by providing access to nutritious food at home. This year, Power Snack will provide 23,267 children across 127 schools with 837,612 meals—a 23 percent increase from 2017.

“These coupons could not have come at a better time,” said Lynn Baldus, St. Ansgar 6-12 Principal. “With Thanksgiving break coming up most kids are excited because they’re going to grandma’s house for a big meal or something like that, but the reality is we have a lot of kids sitting here thinking, ‘Okay, great. What am I going to eat on these days we don’t have school?’ and I really worry about them, I do.”

The superhero theme of Power Snack is indicative of the larger purpose of the program—empower children in food insecure homes by teaching them how to get to the store, shop for nutritious food covered by the coupons and make their own snacks at home.

“Kids love ham,” said Jen Sorenson, communications director for Iowa Select Farms. “It’s easy to prepare, full of flavor and promotes growth and development. Combining the energy and carbohydrates of whole wheat bread with the protein of ham means the children will have made themselves a real Power Snack.”

Today we’ll be traveling to schools in Madison, Adair, Pottawatomie, Audubon, Dallas and Polk counties. Along the way, we’ll deliver 4,904 Power Snacks—a contribution valued at $39,232.

We hope you enjoy following along, learning more about Power Snack and most importantly, meeting the incredible teachers, secretaries and principals who are helping us take a stand against childhood hunger. 
#HomegrownIowa