Notre Dame students qualify for FCCLA nationals with their project, Kids Feeding Kids
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Two Notre Dame Regional High School juniors qualified for FCCLA nationals.
Megan Berghoff and Brooklyn Gosche qualified for nationals with their project, Kids Feeding Kids.
FCCLA, short for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, is a student-led integrated curriculum organization.
FCCLA’s mission is to promote personal growth, leadership development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication,
practical knowledge and career preparation.
Notre Dame FCCLA advisor, Amy Neal, was introduced to Kids Feeding Kids education and program director, Diane Mora, at the FCCLA Fall Leadership Conference.
Kids Feeding Kids is a non-profit focused on engaging students in preparing take-home meals for families in
their communities.
The program provides teachers with a standards-based food justice and culinary curriculum focused on increasing food access, reducing food insecurity, and raising awareness around the social and environmental impacts of food waste.
The organization is sponsored by several groups, including Patrick Mahomes’ 15 and the Mahomies Foundation.
Mora goes to schools, mainly in the Kansas City area, and leads students in meal preparation.
Together, Mora, Neal, Berghoff and Gosche agreed to tackle the monumental task of 1,000 meals in one week, which is the highest number of meals ever produced by a participating school.
With the help of Notre Dame students, faculty and community members, they cooked in bulk making 1,000 meals of stir fry, packaging them according to health standards, and handing them out to those in need in the Cape Girardeau area during Catholic Schools Week in February.
Once the project was complete, Berghoff and Gosche shared their work at FCCLA competitions.
The duo competed at regionals, and then took second place at the state competition in the National Programs in Action category to qualify for nationals.
Their project was also featured in the FCCLA national spotlight.
Berghoff said this project has “grown her leadership and community service skills” and empowered her to educate others about food insecurity.
She has also become more comfortable presenting to large groups.
Gosche echoed that saying the experience has given her the opportunity to open up and feel more confident in herself when public speaking.
Berghoff, Gosche and Neal will be heading to Seattle, Washington, in June to present the project.
“I’m really looking forward to spreading the word about Kids Feeding Kids,” said Gosche. “I really want to let other schools know that they can participate in this program and have the opportunity to help their communities.”
These students are actively fundraising to afford their trip to nationals and are looking for sponsors to help them share their project on a national level.
More info: notredamehighschool.org/nationalskfk
