Henley High School students have set a lofty but concrete goal for themselves: Feed 30 Klamath teens for 30 days in July.

“We plan to help kids all over,” said Danielle Herinckx, 16. “We know there’s a kid at KU who wouldn’t have had a meal, but we get to feed them. And Mazama, and everywhere around.”

Henley is working with Hunger Not Impossible, part of Not Impossible Labs, which calls itself an “investigator of innovation and content creator” working and crowdsourcing for “low-cost solutions for the most vulnerable on our planet.”

A Skype chat with Not Impossible founder Mick Ebeling in April inspired Henley teens to help their fellow students in need. Henley students produced a video to kick-start the project, referencing 10,890 people in need in Klamath County, Oregon ranks 7th in the nation for hunger and more than one-third of Henley students receive free or reduced-priced meals.

“It shows how many students really need help,” said Macy Hullman, 15. “We sit next to them every day in class. We don’t realize what they’re going through. It’s a good way for all of us to help.”

Fundraising

Henley students need to raise $9,000 by June 1 to feed 30 teens for 30 days in July. Henley challenged Mazama and Klamath Union to raise $1,000 to match Henley’s goal of $1,000, for a $3,000 total raised by schools. Students are challenging the community and businesses to donate the other $6,000.

On Thursday, Give Back Day, Henley students canvassed businesses for donations and garnered $3,000. That included:

  • $500 — Jalapenos Taco Shop
  • $300 — Pacific Ridge Insurance
  • $300 — Molatore, Scroggin, Peterson & Co. LLP
  • $300 — The Chicken Shack
  • $200 — American Family Insurance
  • $100 — Dairy Queen
  • $100 — My Mechanic
  • $100 — DBA All Pro Painting & Construction
  • 40 smaller donations from other Klamath companies

Henley is running a coin drive to raise its $1,000. So far the boys’ basketball team has donated $300.

“We’re hoping those businesses will buy into our program and this will be a renewable thing, sustainable, every year,” Herinckx said.

The process

Hunger Not Impossible developed a program that removes the stigma of hunger by allowing teens to pick up meals from local restaurants just like any other paying customer.

Here is how it works:

Teens enroll in the program. When a teen needs a meal, he or she texts “I’m hungry” to the app. Volunteers at Hunger Not Impossible send local menu options and the teen chooses which meal he or she wants. Hunger Not Impossible orders and pays for the meal. The teen goes and picks it up.

While some teens may not have funds for food, many do have cell phones. Sometimes those smartphones are new with phone and data plans, but sometimes they are handme-downs that only log onto free wifi.

For Klamath’s program, Henley is aiming at providing dinners in July. Some teens already receive free lunches through the Oregon Summer Meals program. The choice was intentional so as not to duplicate services and to provide a meal for teens before or after work, said

Linnae Salvati, one of the Henley teachers helping students with the project.

The Henley students said the Hunger Not Impossible process of picking up a meal at a restaurant rather than a free lunch in the park can make a big difference for teenagers.

“No teenagers use it because they’re embarrassed to get a sack lunch,” Holly Phelps, 18, said of the summer lunch program.

“There’s all these things people associate with being hungry,” Herinckx said. “Those teens don’t want to be associated with all those other things. They want to be normal.”

“They just want to fit in,” Phelps said.

Donations

Students are still raising funds. Donations can be made by contacting Salvati at Henley at salvatil@kcsd.k12.or.us or Beau Fullerton at Mazama at fullertonj@kcsd.k12.or.us.

Though the goal is $9,000, the students will adjust the number of teens served based on how much they raise — whether it be more or less. After June 1, when they know how much they have, they will know how many teens they can serve. Then they will search for teens to enroll in the program and get the app.

The Henley students were inspired by Not Impossible and the idea to “commit, then figure it out,” as Ebeling told them.

“If we help one, we help many. We’re starting with 30 kids and we’re hoping to grow this in Klamath and maybe in Oregon,” Hullman said. “If we start little we can grow big. I honestly think we can change the world.”

Tags