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“It’s such an important aspect in everyone’s life,” Baack said.
A trained French Chef, McAdams owned a restaurant, and the couple established a grocery store in Land O’ Lakes.
“It was a food desert,” Baack said. “Our town for three years hadn’t had a grocery store and it was really a hardship for a lot of local people who didn’t have enough money to drive 20 miles to get to a decent grocery store.”
Baack said investing in the grocery store to meet a common need felt meaningful.
“How wonderful it made us feel to put our money to work in our community instead of just keeping it piled up in an investment account somewhere,” she said.
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One million dollars by 2024, that’s the goal of the Tomorrow’s Kids Endowment Fund. The money will go toward sustaining the Feed Our Rural Kids program.
FORK started in 2019 with the goal of making sure children in Vilas County don’t go hungry.
It’s a feeling Keith Kentula knows all too well.
“I came from a home that struggled to put food on the table. I lost my father as a young boy in a work accident,” said Kentual. “There were six of us at home when that happened. We were involved getting government issued cheese and butter and whatever else we could get from them. So I’m fully aware of what it’s like to want food in your home.
To meet the needs of that community, they’re partnering with the Weekend Backpack Program.
FORK is funding the expansion, and the Weekend Backpack Program is distributing the food.
“It has to be a whole community partnership and finally all those pieces fell into place,” said Andrea Fluegel, the Weekend Backpack Program’s coordinator. “We want to make sure every student gets fed. If they need the food, we’ll find a way.”
Half of the students in Phelps receive free or reduced-price lunches.
Fluegel said they’re willing to help all of these students receive enough food when they’re not at school.