Butterball is giving back to the local community around one of its production facilities by partnering with Fair Acres Family Y in Carthage, Missouri. Butterball's sponsorship of the on-site meals program will allow the Fair Acres Family Y to serve 100 free meals per day for local youth during the summer months.
In addition to the financial sponsorship, Butterball will provide ongoing in-kind product donations from its local Carthage facility, primarily ground turkey, to supplement additional meal plans. With this donation, Butterball will extend its ability to support the program beyond the summer months and provide a delicious protein option for the children it feeds.
“Throughout the summer, the Y, in partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest (OFH) provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner to youth under the age of 18 at three community locations–the youth center, within the YMCA summer day camp, and the municipal pool. Through the local Y’s meal programs, over 43,000 free meals were distributed to local kids in 2021. This partnership with Butterball will enable the Y to provide nourishing meals for even more children throughout the community,” said Jonathan Roberts, executive director and CEO of Fair Acres Family Y.
The Carthage Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) rates, which are used to show how many children qualify for lunch money assistance and are an indicator of poverty level, range from 55-88% of children enrolled in the Carthage School District1. This means an average of 73% of all students qualify for assistance. Of those students, the statistics show that only 13.8 % of children received summer nutrition, according to the 2020 Food Resource Action Center's Summer Nutrition Report2.
"Butterball believes everyone deserves to feel great about what they eat and expanding access to food where needed is an important part of our role in the local community. With summer food programs falling short in reaching the additional 86% of youth who are at-risk for food insecurity, it’s even more important to support kids within our own communities by providing nutritious meals during the summer,” said Christa Leupen, Butterball senior manager of purpose and public relations.
Local Carthage residents can take advantage of the Fair Acres Y’s summer meal service program at the below locations and timeframes:
- Youth Activity Center located at 400 S. Maple Street, Monday to Friday, from 3:30 to 5:30pm CT
- Carthage Municipal Pool located at 521 Robert Ellis Young Dr, Monday to Friday, 4:00 pm to 4:30 pm CT
