Examination of possible areas for
project location
10/1/14
Met with the Norco FFA Officer
Team to present capstone project and ask for partnership.
Discussed possibilities of food
pantry and food distribution through the FFA Organization
Gained approval of FFA Officer
team to start the food pantry project
10/10/14
Worked during the week preparing
and writing a grant to get the project off the ground.
Submitted grant application to
the Corona Norco Schools Education Foundation for "Ending
Hunger" Project
Updated website, loaded a new
video...very powerful.
11/12/14
Had a peanut butter and jelly
drive at the FFA Meeting.Students
that were able brought in peanut butter, jelly, bread, and Cup O Noodles
to start stocking the Food Pantry.
Submitted grant application to
the National FFA Organization for the “Food for All Grant.”If funded will allow for fresh produce,
eggs, and meat to be added to the pantry items.
Updated website, loaded a new items
to the artifact page.
12/1/14-12/17/14
FFA members brought in food items
that they signed up for…bread, milk, eggs, cheese, pasta, potatoes,
canned vegetables, etc.
Items were sorted for
distribution to adopted families and the Food Pantry.
Students have been working on
amending the soil on the back part of the farm for the new blueberry
fields.It’s going to be a long
and hard process, but the end result will be worth it!
12/19/14
Food items collected were distributed
to our families.Students adopted
two families in Corona.There were
seven members in one family and six members in the other family.Donations this year were so plentiful
that we were able to donate additional items to the Corona Norco Settlement
House and the Corona Norco Rescue Mission.There were still enough donations left
to stock our Food Pantry for the duration of the winter break.
Still working on the soil for the
blueberry field…Mr. Richartz is working with students to make the proper
adjustments to the soil.It’s
truly a labor of love.
1/20/15
We’ve been awarded a Food For All
Grant by the National FFA Organization.We are beyond excited; the grant was for $2,495.33.
Over the course of the week we
will finish the paperwork to accept the grant and get our purchasing
processes started.
Yep, still working on that soil,
but the pH is starting to come down!
2/11/15
FFA members held another monthly
meeting.The Food Pantry was
talked about again to the general membership.The Officer team will be looking at
ways to increase the numbers of students using the pantry.We know there is a need, but pride
seems to be an issue.
We are developing a plan for
rotating stock out of the food pantry as necessary.It looks like we will be dropping food
off at the local rescue mission as needed to that no donated food items
go bad and/or unused.
Students have started planting
the blueberry plants in the field…over 150 of them.We are beyond thrilled!
2/25/15
Having FFA members start on
posters for upcoming food drive to coincide with Open House.
Students will also make posters
with facts about food scarcity to increase awareness on campus.
3/4/15
Updated Weebly site.
3/9/15
Posters about “Ton of Love” Food
drive put up around the campus.
Announcements made about food
drive…all week by ASB office.
3/16/15
FFA members continue to work on
the informational posters.
New food drive posters were put
up around the campus.
Clean up the Ag truck and make
arrangements for it to be put on campus for the Open House food drive.
3/18/15
Parked the Ag truck in the school
quad for students, parents, community members, and staff drop off food
items.
Put posters on the truck to
advertise the food drive.Also
included informational posters about the NHS Food Pantry.
3/19/15
FFA members sorted donations from
the food drive and placed items in the food pantry.
FFA members rotated stock in the
food pantry and will look to donate items to Corona Norco Rescue Mission
and/or the Corona Norco Settlement House as needed.
FFA Members have started working
on posters to share hunger facts with students on campus, we’d like to
raise awareness about the problem.
3/24/15
Met with the Agriculture Teacher
from Hemet High School on best management practices for our laying hen project.We are excited that the hen house is
currently being re-vamped, but I need to make sure that we are making the
correct decisions when it comes to feeding and egg production.I was able to get some insight into a
new feed ration that will increase egg production and the feed efficiency
of the laying hens.So
excited!(Did I say that already?)
Continue on the poster
creation.Students have researched
hunger facts and selected facts to be placed on the posters.Students will be using the cricut machine
to cut out all of the letters and make the posters.
3/25/15
Met with several security guards
and showed them where the food pantry was located and what types of items
are in the food bank.Also talked
to the security guards about encouraging students to use the food pantry
as needed…even if it was just for lunch items.
Security guards do have access to
the food pantry and can get items for students as needed.
Conversation with the personal
counselor at the school about how the food pantry works and gaining
access for students.Talked about
delivery options and other aspects of the food pantry that would make it
easier for the counselors to get food for their students.
Students in agriculture classes
have started planting some of the cooler crop plants.These include kale, lettuce, broccoli,
and cauliflower.We are hoping for
a quick turn around on these plants.We have also started some plants by seed in the greenhouse,
including tomatoes, strawberries, and several varieties of squash.
3/27/15
More food was dropped off at the
pantry by staff members.Trying to
keep the food pantry stocked with more “quick & easy” items for
students.More of a grab and go.There is a huge issue with pride and
not wanting to take advantage of the program.
4/1/15
Updated Weebly site.
Looking to move some of the food
items down to the front office and/or main campus so that there is easier
access to the food.
Talked to one of the Assistant
Principals to look into a possible location.
Starting to research some other
website formats that may be able to do some of the things that I’d like
to do with my site.
4/8/15
It’s spring time!That means planting, planting,
planting!The students in
agriculture classes have worked on planting the farm to grow our spring and
summer crops.The tomatoes,
peppers, and squash have all been moved out to the field and vegetable
plots.
The chicken coop is coming along
nicely.One of the shop students
worked on building some new feed troughs to increase feed efficiency.
4/1/15
Updated website site.
Looking to move some of the food
items down to the front office and/or main campus so that there is easier
access to the food.
Talked to one of the Assistant
Principals to look into a possible location.
Starting to research some other website
formats that may be able to do some of the things that I’d like to do
with my site.
4/11/15
Attended the CATA meeting at Cal
Poly Pomona and heard about the new FFA initiative to help end
hunger.The FFA has a goal to
provide more than 2.5 million meals by the end of the year.The presentation was inspiring and
timely considering I feel as though I had hit a wall with my
project.I’m reenergized!
4/15/15
The chicken coop is done and
absolutely beautiful!(It’s even
Norco Blue!)The maintenance
department has assisted by installing lights and a thermostat to control
the mister system.These ladies
are going to be living in style!Kaytlin is the lead student on the project.I will be meeting with her to figure
out when we can go purchase the new hens with our grant money.
Every Wednesday the students
continue to go out and work on the farm.Weeding, adding new vegetable plants to the farm, and general
clean-up are typical tasks.
4/22/15
Artichokes, corn, peppers, and
asparagus have been added to the vegetable plots.We will have quite the bounty of fresh
vegetables this summer.The
blueberry plants are also doing quite well.Mr. Richartz and his students are
regularly checking up on the pH of the soil.
5/1/15
The pigs are now on the
farm!It’s exciting news…with a
portion of the grant money we were able to purchase a pig that can be
raised by the chapter so that we will have farm fresh meat available in
our food pantry by the fall.Meat
is by far one of the most expensive parts of a meal and quite often is
limited for those facing food insecurity.We will be able to provide small packages of meat to families.
5/5/15
Ms. Lindsey participated in a
webinar afterschool regarding the Food For All Grant.Our mid-year report will be due
soon.The Ag staff and FFA members
will be collecting the data about what has been done to date with the
grant money.
5/12/15
It’s crunch time!All of the information for our capstone
must be finalized and submitted by this Friday.Two years in the TLCA program has flown
by…when I started the program I didn’t think those words would ever leave
my lips.Oh how time and
perspective changes things.This
project will continue on…
5/19/15
Kaytlin and I will be picking up
75 pullets in Chino and re-homing them to our beautiful chicken coop on
the farm.Kaytlin will also be
recruiting 2 other students to help her in the management of the
project.Kaytlin will be the lead
on the project.In consideration
of the grant, 10% of the eggs from the hens will be donated to the NHS
Food Bank, with any overflow going to the Corona Norco Rescue Mission.
5/21/15
Presentation Day!
6/1/15
A summer schedule for food
distribution will be posted on the door of the front office and will also
be e-mailed out to all NHS staff.The agriculture program is a twelve month program and will be
accessible for any students/families of Norco High School over the summer
months.The bulk of our fresh
vegetables will be available over the summer months.