Club gears up for February’s popular Penguin Plunge fundraiser, but works to fight food insecurity every week
The 4-H Teen Club is gearing up for another Penguin Plunge, and while watching people jump in the frigid waters of the Central City outdoor pool in February is a good time, the reason for the event is not all fun and games. Through partnerships with the school district, the food pantry and their distributor, and city officials who make the plunge possible, students who live with food insecurity are able to take a little something extra home each week thanks to these efforts.
A group of Teen Club members arrive early in the morning at the Muhlenberg County Extension Office in Powderly to pick up boxes of food, to be delivered to all of the county’s eight schools. Inside the boxes are individual bags containing non-perishable food to be sent home with students living in situations where they may not have enough to eat over the weekend.
The bags are slipped into children’s backpacks on Fridays when students are not in the classroom, in order to keep private the identity of those involved in the Backpack Program. The participants are determined by recommendations from teachers to the school’s Family Resource and Youth Service Centers and the food is sent home every week throughout the school year.
The Penguin Plunge is the Teen Club’s main fundraiser for the Backpack Program.
The majority of participants in the plunge are elementary school students. “The teachers get them fired up, and they have ‘Dress Like A Penguin’ day to raise money,” said Mackenzie Pogue, the 4-H Extension Agent for Muhlenberg County.
The Backpack Program started with a single grant, obtained by a Teen Club member back in 2001. The program was small and funding was only around $1,000. The real growth of the program came in 2011 when former Teen Club member Connor Cooper started the Penguin Plunge. The dip in icy water brought needed attention to the program, and made an annual, high-profile fundraiser the club could rely on.
At the height of the program, Pogue said there were 660 students receiving food assistance. Unable to fund such large numbers, the Teen Club had to reduce participation to match funding. This year, there are 265 students who receive the food assistance each week.
Pogue said their partnership with Feeding America is essential to the program. The Teen Club receives monthly deliveries from the agency, boxed and sorted into individual bags, ready to be delivered to the schools each week.
The bags include macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, cereal, crackers, and fruit and vegetables, all in easy pull-tab packages that youngsters can heat and serve themselves. The cost comes to $3 per student, per week.
Pogue said their contract with Feeding America falls under an agreement with Hope2All Food Pantry in Drakesboro, another partner in the program. “We depend on them to be the resouce through Feeding America,” Pogue said.
There are a lot of hands involved in making the program work, Pogue said.
Planning for the program is ongoing. Pogue said the Teen Club discusses the Backpack Program at every meeting, nailing down logistics and organizing fundraising efforts. A core group of eight students are the “drivers” who deliver each week, some too young to drive get a lift with a parent, who are also very involved in the process.
On this Friday morning, the drivers are packed and ready to deliver as the weekly Teen Club meeting ends. They spend a few hours each week serving as drivers, and they seem to agree about why they do it.
“It’s a little bit of extra time throughout your week, I think it’s definitely something that’s very rewarding,” Madison Woodall said. She’s been involved in the program since she obtained her driver’s license two years ago.
“There are a lot of kids, just like us, in our community who are struggling,” Woodall said, “and sometimes that’s really hard to see when you’re with them everyday.”
Helping them over the weekend and knowing they’re not going to go hungry is important to the Teen Club members and the others nod in agreement.
“I want to help others and serve my community,” middle-schooler Gage Edwards added.
The Penguin Plunge is not the only source of funding for the program. Over the years a few other fundraisers have started, including Empty Bowls, and donations come from businesses and churches throughout the year. There’s a church in the community that makes monthly donations, and others that do special offerings for the program.
With 265 students and the cost of $120 per student per year, the Teen Club aims to raise nearly $32,000 to keep the program running at its current level.
The City of Central City also provides another partnership in the program. They allow the Teen Club to use the pool without charge for the event, and even fill it especially for that day. Without these partners, Pogue said the program would not be possible.
The 2024 Penguin Plunge will be held on Feb. 17 at the Central City Convention Center’s outdoor swimming pool. For more information on how to get involved or to make a donation, contact Mackenzie Pogue at the Muhlenberg County Extension Office at 270-338-3124.
For those who would like to stay high and dry on Feb. 17, you can always purchase a t-shirt at the event that says, “I’m Too Chicken To Plunge”.
