Feeding Our Communities Partners prepares for tenth-annual Climb 2 Feed Kids

Holly Marie Moore, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·1 min read

Jan. 7—MANKATO — Feeding Our Communities Partners is gearing up for its annual Climb 2 Feed Kids fundraiser, where all proceeds will support the organization's five hunger-relief programs.

The programs help in part to provide food-insecure students with nutritious meals and snacks for weekends and school breaks.

FOCP is aiming to raise $125,000 this year; the funds raised during the event account for a third of the organization's annual food budget, Communications Coordinator Holly Dodge said.

This year will be the second year the event will be held at Mount Kato. It was previously held at Bresnan Arena.

Teams of five to 10 people commit to raising $1,500.

Teams in the Jan. 22 event will participate in a relay-style race and climb 500 feet up the hill before riding a tube down and passing it along to their next teammate.

"It's a really unique event because it's all ages, all fitness levels. It's just like a really, really fun day. It's always high energy, just exciting and it's just a great opportunity for the community to collectively support our food efforts," Dodge said.

The FOCP BackPack Food Program said on its Facebook page that this past year, the organization helped provide 2,135 weekday and 257,108 weekend meals.

Volunteers also clocked in over 2,000 hours in the effort to combat youth hunger.

"Essentially what our programs do is we're just ensuring there are never barriers to food access for students," said Dodge.

Dodge said anyone interested in this year's event can check out their website.