Growing Hope Globally Launches New Career Kit For FFA Students
More than 690 million people around the world live in hunger. That is 9% of the earth’s population. Unfortunately, that number is expected to increase this year due to the economic and health impacts of COVID-19.
The challenge of global hunger can be overwhelming. Many people find it easiest to just ignore it, or to say that there is nothing that they can do. Others have chosen to make a difference from right where they live in partnership with Growing Hope Globally. Over the past 20 years, farmers, churches, communities, and FFA students have been making a lasting impact in the lives of people they may never meet.
Growing Hope Globally is a faith-based non-profit organization that allows those who care about hunger to make a difference. Working with a network of partners, sustainable food security programs are implemented in low-income countries around the world. These programs provide smallholder farmers and their families with tools and training to work toward more hopeful futures. Support is raised by community Growing Projects across the United States.
“If we’re going to be able to end hunger, we’re going to need a bigger team,” said Ron DeWeerd of Growing Hope Globally. “We need everybody to get involved.”
Growing Hope has partnered with the National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education (NASAE), to develop a curriculum that helps bring the topic of food insecurity to high school classrooms across the country. The SAE For All Career Kit for International Agricultural Development promotes a variety of topics that are important for the long-term success of high school students, regardless of career path. Focus areas include agricultural literacy, career exploration, personal finance, workplace safety, and employability skills.
“We’re really excited about this new curriculum, it provides guided instruction for teachers, and helps them be confident as they share good information about a career that students might not be aware of otherwise,” said Juleah Tolosky, President Elect of NASAE.
Students gain valuable workplace skills, and have the option to learn through a hands-on experience by starting a Growing Project in their community. Growing Projects are community-based projects that raise resources for sustainable agriculture programs supported by Growing Hope Globally.
Lauren Crawford, Vice President of the Belmond-Klemme Iowa FFA Chapter, shared about her experience of starting a Growing Project last year. “Our chapter had done meal packing events in the past, but we wanted to find something that creates a long-term impact, and we found Growing Hope Globally. We saw the difference that Growing Hope makes in the lives of others. We started looking for land and volunteers. My dad had a friend who donated the land and he also helped us with planting the crops.” Crawford’s FFA chapter has harvested and sold their crop. The funds they raised supported a program that provides farmers in Burkina Faso with agricultural training.
“We hope that this curriculum will help more students to become interested in responding to hunger, and also help them see how important agriculture is in this work,” said Max Finberg, President of Growing Hope Globally. “Whether they start a Growing Project or end up working in agricultural research we need young people to be aware of the needs of farmers in developing countries. The good news is that there are many ways that we can make a lasting difference.”
If you are interested in making a lasting difference for people suffering from hunger, please contact us! You can also check out our FFA Resources page.