By Brianna Pitts
InkFreeNews

KOSCIUSKO — Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program Kosciusko branch has some upcoming educational outreach projects currently in the works for the community.

Kosciusko County Community Coordinator Amy Rowe discussed three of these upcoming projects in detail.

Food Access And Education Coalition

The first of these events will be a Food Access and Education Coalition kickoff meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday,  June 22, in the second floor conference room of the K21 Health Services Pavilion, 1515 Provident Drive, Warsaw.

The H.E.L.P. Kosciusko project team was invited to participate in the AgriNovus HungerTech Challenge, a business pitch contest that tasks innovators with creating and implementing tech-enabled business solutions connecting populations experiencing food insecurity to for-profit and not-for-profit food networks. The H.E.L.P. team pitched an innovative project called “Double Snap,” which uses an app to increase the efficiency of Snap Benefits and incentivizes buying healthy food.

Tobe Forshtay was a participant on the H.E.L. P. project team. Forshtay expressed Americans live in the most agriculturally prosperous nation in the world, and yet are challenged with food insecurities in local communities. Forshtay stated the team labored over an idea they believe will address the heart of the matter.

The next step for the project is the kickoff meeting for those working with food-insecure populations. The goal is to foster collaboration and create a Food Insecurity Coalition.

This project will primarily focus on building and supporting community gardens, greenhouses and food markets to bring attention to food deserts and food insecurity in the rural communities of Kosciusko County. This will, in turn, develop a sustainable local food system and increase access to local produce and offerings to nutrition education.

The H.E.L.P. program desires to bring people in the community together to raise awareness and begin a conversation about the food needs of Kosciusko County during this event.

“Our goal is to bring people together to discuss opportunities related to food access and education, and create a cohesive coalition for our county,” said Roe. “An organized coalition will provide us more access to resources, whether it be grant opportunities or connecting with new volunteers. These efforts will contribute toward a healthier and happier Kosciusko County.”

Civic Engagement And Community Service Event

The second event is a Civic Engagement event. This will be an outreach event aiming to inspire anyone from 20-50 years old to participate in community service. The date for this is Aug. 3, but time and place are still being determined.

This event hopes to inspire young people to engage in their community and bridge the age gap between those currently participating.

This will be framed as a call-out event to bring people in the community together to discuss the different obstacles preventing people from participating, as well as educating others who might want to join.

Re-Imagining Youth Entrepreneurship Summit

This event hopes to attract many businesses in Kosciusko County to discuss how to approach and validate youth entrepreneurship within the county. Date, time and place for this event is still being determined at this time.

Rowe said that she hopes this will cast the vision for interaction with rising youth entrepreneurs and encourage youth entrepreneurs through this event.

“There is rich interest and possibility when it comes to young entrepreneurs and we as a community have an opportunity to highlight and fuel that.”

This event will span all ages.

Additional Research H.E.L.P. Is Involved With

There is current research being done by the H.E.L.P. team to organize a future event that revolves around bilingual diversity.

The team is currently researching the different cultures located in Kosciusko County and how to best serve them and their needs.