I found out something that shocked me the other day, and I figured you should know, too.
As of 2023, Geary County, Kan., has a 30% child food-insecurity rate and ranks as the top county in Kansas for childhood food insecurity. That’s according to kansashealthmatters.org, a service of the Kansas Partnership for Improving Community Health.
That’s almost 1 in every 3 kids standing in line at the school cafeteria in Junction City, Kan., if you need a visual.
Now, what made this shocking for me is that Geary County is also home to the U.S. Army’s Fort Riley. Fort Riley not only supports a community of about 15,000 active-duty service members, but also their 18,000 or more family members, about 29,000 veterans and retirees, and about 5,600 civilian employees. And, surprisingly, according to USDA, about 25% of military personnel experience food insecurity themselves.
Of all the counties in this state, I would have assumed that Geary would be in the best position to avoid food insecurity. I figured of all the community segments, surely our military would be food secure. But I was wrong.
Lending a hand
So, why did I go down this data rabbit hole? Well, like many of my research excursions, it started with a Facebook post from Hildebrand Farms Dairy at Junction City.
You might remember I wrote a profile article about Melissa Hildebrand-Reed in May for our Women in the Field issue. Well, Melissa is a mother and a dairy farmer, and she feels strongly that no one should go hungry — especially if she can do something about it. For the past year, the family has worked with the nonprofit SENT Topeka to donate 50 to 100 glass bottles per week of the family’s famous milk to its food pantry.
“It’s something that, for us, it’s always been really important to try and give a little bit of what we’ve got,” Melissa explained.
And to manage the bottle deposits, SENT recipients who bring back the empty bottles get a credit toward additional food pantry assistance.
Now, during the recent government shutdown, the effects in the Junction City and Fort Riley communities started to become evident, and they reached top of mind for Melissa.
Remember all those people I shared with you just a few paragraphs back? Well, Geary County and the surrounding counties feel the pain when government paychecks are frozen, or if jobs are furloughed. The delay and uncertainty around Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits also was on Melissa’s mind.
The Hildebrands wanted to do something for their neighbors. And so, Melissa drew up a simple Facebook post: “Free skim milk for SNAP recipients. Stop by the Farm Store and receive two FREE bottles of skim milk! Recipient must pay the $2.75 refundable bottle deposit per bottle.”
I saw it and shared it myself. And then one of my friends went one step further and asked, “How can we cover the refundable bottle deposits for those who may not even have those funds?”
Thinking quickly, Melissa posted that folks just had to call the Farm Store and buy a gift card over the phone that would be applied to a tally for donated bottles.
In just 24 hours, a little more than $200 was donated, which would cover about 100 bottle deposits for SNAP recipients.
New opportunities
Melissa said they don’t know how long they’ll continue the program. And with news of the government shutdown ending, it's likely that this program may be short-lived. But Melissa said they’ll use every cent earmarked for bottle deposits, either through this donation program at the Farm Store or by donating the rest of the money to food banks to cover those bottle deposits.
She added that there’s been increased interest since the start of the government shutdown from food pantries.
“We’ve talked to many more food pantries that we didn’t have relationships with prior,” Melissa said.
She added that the family is open to expanding their partnerships with local food pantries, but they also are mindful of their customer base, which has been supporting the family’s bottled-milk business for so long.
“I think that if there’s ever a need, we’re going to try and fulfill it,” Melissa said. “It’s tough because our product is not always accessible to all, but that’s kind of the nature of being a small business.”
Still, this is how neighbors pull together to help neighbors. It may seem like a drop in the bucket, but for those who will use the program, we may never fully know how much they needed that drop.
If you want to support the Hildebrands and this skim milk donation program — or support their work with SENT or other food pantries — call the farm at 785-238-8029. Or stop by the Farm Store at the dairy, 5210 Rucker Road, Junction City.
Also, there are 104 other counties in Kansas, and I encourage all of you to do a data dive on your county. There are plenty of tools to explore at kansashealthmatters.org.
I think you’ll be surprised at what you find. I know I was.