Nature’s Path hosts event benefitting food-insecure middle schoolers

Organic breakfast foods company Nature’s Path hosted a “foodraiser” on February 3 at its Blaine facility, where bags of breakfast and snack foods were assembled for distribution to food-insecure middle schoolers in Ferndale.

For the February 3 event at its Blaine manufacturing plant, Nature’s Path partnered with the Ferndale School District and Open Hands, a grassroots community organization that provides food relief. Open Hands seeks to eliminate hunger in elementary school children in Whatcom County. The non-profit organization sends home weekend meals every Friday to over 760 kids from 10 elementary schools in Whatcom County.

At the event, which was part of Nature’s Path’s Eat Well Do Good series, Nature’s Path team members and others prepared bags of breakfast and snack foods to be distributed to over 1,100 students at Horizon Middle School and Vista Middle School in Ferndale.

“One in six children in the United States is dealing with food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said a January 31 press release sent on behalf of Nature’s Path. “Closer to home, in Whatcom County, 38.7 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced lunch; that means they aren’t getting enough food to lead a healthy life. As an organic food company, Nature’s Path is committed to helping address this need. For the past 10 years, our Eat Well Do Good foodraisers have brought over $1.5 million worth of food to local food banks and schools.”

Participants in the event included Nature’s Path general manager Arjan Stephens, Ferndale School District student services executive director Dr. Paul Douglas, Horizon Middle School principal Dr. Faye Brit, Ferndale School District homeless and foster liaison Kim Bunch and Open Hands co-director Larae Tjoelker.