Just Askin' | When will Parkland ag help feed families?

Ethan Simmons, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·1 min read

Nov. 13—When will Parkland College students start leading the Farmers Feeding Families program?

They already have.

Parkland ag students, under the instruction of Parkland's Ag Tech Department Chairman Gordon Hedrick, harvested about 80 acres of crops in north Champaign on Wednesday.

Profit from the sale of the crops will go toward United Way's Farmers Feeding Families program, a charitable drive that funds food pantries in the area.

This year's benefit: about $54,000, said Sue Grey, CEO of United Way of Champaign County.

"We couldn't have asked for a better day," she said.

The United Way of Champaign County and Parkland College reached an agreement last month to let the college's ag students be the main caretakers of the field.

"I think it's great not only for the proximity of the college, but these kids are very proud to help feed the hungry, to give back as they learn," Hedrick said.

The Farmers Feeding Families program started in 2014, from the idea of Pete Sage, a Thomasboro farmer.

The crops that fund the program are grown on a field off Interstate Drive, owned by the Unit 4 School District. United Way uses some of the proceeds to pay rent and crop insurance.

To date, the program has raised nearly $220,000 for area food banks and nutrition programs.

Parkland students from in precision ag, advanced applicator, diesel power and Case New Holland Technician programs took turns driving the combine and siphoning up corn and soybeans in six hours of work on Wednesday, which amounted to about 100 hours of instruction, Hedrick said.