Austin Presents Michigan Farm Bureau Grant to Eau Claire Public Schools
Eau Claire Public Schools was recently awarded a $2,000 grant to fight childhood food insecurity by the Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan Agent Charitable Fund (ACF) and the Michigan Farm Bureau Family of Companies (MFBFoC). Grant funds will be used to purchase food for the Friday Food Bag Program at Lybrook Elementary School.
Agents for Change Grants are awarded to Michigan school districts every other month. Schools are nominated by a local Farm Bureau Insurance agent and selected by a committee of ACF donors based on the need of the school and overall goal of the program. School districts can utilize Michigan Farm Bureau’s Find an Agent tool to locate an agent in their area. The next round of Agents for Change grants is open, and submissions will be accepted until Friday, May 29.
Farm Bureau agent Austin Batalis nominated Eau Claire Public Schools for the grant and is excited to come alongside the district and support their hunger-relief efforts for the second year. As Batalis says, “Students receive help with lunch at school, but many do not have the food they need when they go home over the weekend. The Friday Food Bag Program packs grocery bags of food for children to take home to continue eating after school and over the weekend.”
The ACF, whose mission is to end hunger in Michigan, is a donor-designated fund administered through the Michigan Foundation for Agriculture. The Michigan Foundation for Agriculture, a 501(c)(3) governed by the MFBFoC’s board of directors, positively contributes to the future of Michigan agriculture through leadership and educational programming.
Operating at the intersection of market and moral missions, the MFBFoC has a powerful vision: a Michigan where no child goes to bed hungry. MFBFoC is reinvesting their proceeds back into their local communities and identifying effective programs, policies and practices designed to directly reduce childhood hunger.