4-H, FFA team up to fight hunger and help the environment

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- When East Perry Community Fairgoers toss empty plastic bottles into the bright yellow barrels throughout the fairgrounds this weekend, they not only will be recycling, but also supporting local efforts to fight hunger.

The Perryville 4-H Teen Council and National FFA Organization are asking businesses and individuals to pledge 1 cent to 5 cents per bottle recycled at the fair, with a limit of 2,000 bottles. All proceeds will be given to local food pantries, the Southeast Missouri Food Bank's Backpacks for Friday program and home-delivered meals for seniors in Perry County.

According to Anna Roth, a member of both 4-H Club and FFA, students have been working on the idea since March, after a trip to the Youth Civic Leaders Summit. The summit, held in Roach, Mo., offers students statewide who are members of 4-H and other similar councils and leadership programs, the opportunity to learn new leadership skills and become more engaged in their communities.

"We knew we would have to come up with a community service project there and bring it back home, so we decided on recycling at the East Perry Fair," Roth said. "But once we got there, they tell us it has to do with hunger in our communities."

At first, the students thought they would have to change their project plans, but Roth said they finally decided to combine the ideas.

At the fair, there will be "a lot of trash, especially bottles," she said. "So it's good for the environment, and it helps out hunger as well."

The project also is a good way to bring the two student groups closer together, according to Roth. She said the agriculture-centered groups have a lot in common and try to work together on projects as often as they can.

"All of us working together is a great thing," Roth said.

The group also will be featured on a float during Friday's parade that marks the opening of the fair. Some of the members will be walking the route, handing out slips of paper that explain the group's goal and where to look for the barrels at the fair.

Roth said there will be more than 100 barrels placed strategically throughout the fairgrounds, most of them near trash cans.

She said the barrels, which were donated by Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation in Perryville, were altered by FFA members to fit the group's needs.

"They took them and cut out holes to drop the bottles in and painted them bright yellow with ‘recycling for bottles only,'" Roth said. "So you can't miss them. We've got these big, bright yellow barrels all over."

By the time the fair ends, she said the group hopes to have raised about $6,000.

"People or businesses can pledge 1 cent to 5 cents per bottle, so if we reach that 2,000-bottle limit, that's $20 to $100," Roth explained. "Of course, people can choose to go higher or just give a donation, too."

She said she expects the project will "serve its purpose," recycling bottles that might otherwise have been tossed away and giving a boost to local food pantries.

The parade, which runs along Altenburg's Main Street -- Route A -- from Immanuel Lutheran Church to the fairgrounds on Church Street, begins at 1:30 today. East Perry Fair activities begin Friday morning and run through Saturday evening.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Perryville, Mo.

Altenburg, Mo.