School Backpack Program
Walther Farms is committed to supporting and investing in children, feeding the poor and hungry, and building local communities. One area of support and investment is in the Paw Pack program.
Three Rivers Community Schools has over 60% of its students relying on free or reduced lunch for their weekday meals. As a response to the need, Walther Farms invested in the creation of the Paw Pack program. The program gives each registered student a backpack filled with food on Fridays to ensure they are fed through the weekend.
The Paw Pack program started in 2009 with 12 students from one elementary school as part of the Walther Foundation. Today, the Paw Pack program has grown to support over 360 students in every school in the Three Rivers district. In the last year alone, more than 36,000 meals were packed for hungry and needy students. Other Walther Farms locations have implemented similar programs in their communities to help feed children.
The Walther Foundation is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. If interested in supporting or donating to the foundation please contact Walther Farms at (269) 278-2383 for more information.
Ethiopian Food Project
We, as Americans are blessed to be have an incredible farm to table food system. United States food production has matured into one of the safest and most prolific in the world. Sharing our knowledge and best practices with those who wish to support themselves aligns perfectly with our mission and core values.
As part of the Ethiopian Food Project, local Ethiopian farmers are provided with initial disease-resistant seed potatoes. They receive instruction in producing potatoes and are shown how to construct potato drying racks and storage facilities from readily acquired local materials. This process becomes self-sustaining for the farmers as they arrange to trade part of their potato crop every three years for clean seed potatoes. Those potato payments are used to start additional potato projects and school nutrition programs. For additional information, or to see how you can get involved, please visit the Ethiopian Food Project website.
