Members of Leadership Johnson County’s Youth Leadership Academy pose with some of the cereal they’ve collected to support the Good Cheer Fund this holiday season. Some members of the academy are working to provide at least 500 boxes of cereal for the hungry.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
For many Johnson County residents, their bowl of morning cereal is a routine part of the day.
But for some struggling to afford food, a box of cereal could be the difference between a healthy breakfast or going hungry.
A group of young county leaders are hoping their efforts can ensure more people have access to breakfast cereal.
The Leadership Johnson County Youth Leadership Academy is raising money and collecting boxes of cereal to be included in this year’s Good Cheer Fund food distribution. Members have been working with local schools, churches, organizations and more to spread the word on the need for cereal this holiday season.
“It’s a big need. There are a lot of people who don’t have as much access or money for food. It’s really important to help our community in that area — especially around the holidays, when gratitude becomes more prevalent,” said Kate Pinnick, a junior at Franklin Community High School and member of the Youth Leadership Academy.
The effort carries on a longstanding tradition of Leadership Johnson County’s role in the Good Cheer Fund, and provides assistance to the hungry in a well-needed way.
“Helping Good Cheer is what spoke to me most,” said Lillian Groves, a senior at Center Grove High School and part of the leadership academy. “I’m a community service leader at Center Grove, and Good Cheer felt like what mattered most to me — giving food out to families.”
Just like countless individuals and organizations, Leadership Johnson County has become an integral part of the food distribution’s success. Since it was founded in 1995, Leadership Johnson County has trained more than 800 local residents to be better leaders and contributors to the local community.
The organization’s Signature Program meets once a month and offers participants activities and assignments to focus on different aspects of leadership. The organization has grown to include special workshops and seminars held throughout the year, focusing on management, women in leadership positions and the power of innovation.
For decades, Leadership Johnson County has also helped Good Cheer Fund organizers input all of the information that comes in on applications from people in need of food for the holidays. Program graduates offer their time to enter all of that data into a program that helps organizers deliver more than 900 baskets across the county.
“Part of our mission is to cultivate informed and involved citizens, so it’s part of giving back to the community,” Shuck said. “We feel that’s important. The Good Cheer group is doing a great job of meeting the need in the community, so this is a small way of us playing a part in this.”
An extension of that mission has emerged with a newer Leadership Johnson County program — the Youth Leadership Academy. Founded in 2019, the five-month program is designed to bring together a select group of county high school students to learn more about their community and practice leadership skills.
A major focus is organizing community service throughout the year.
“In the past, the students did one large project that everyone was involved in. What we decided this year was to make sure everyone was getting equal experience with giving back to the community,” Shuck said.
This year’s class of youth leaders could choose from a series of smaller projects to help with. One of the available projects was assisting the Good Cheer Fund in some way.
“We reached out to (Good Cheer Chairman Jacob Sappenfield) and asked, what is something that you really wanted to add to the Good Cheer activity overall that the Youth Academy could help with,” Shuck said. “He said that he always wanted to have cereal in the baskets. It’s something they don’t typically have enough money to include in every basket.”
With a clear objective, a portion of the Youth Leadership Academy got busy. They set a reasonable goal — 900 boxes seemed challenging for the first year, so their aim is to bring in at least 500 boxes of cereal for the food baskets.
Members reached out to their own schools to motivate them to have to collection drives, and put information in local church bulletins to spread the word. Flyers have been put up all over the county.
“We hopefully can surpass 500 boxes, but at least we want to get that many,” Pinnick said.
As of Nov. 20, the effort had collected 200 boxes of cereal and raised about $600 to purchase more. They hope to have everything collected by Dec. 8 so they can deliver it to Good Cheer Fund organizers.
To support the effort, people can drop off boxes of cereal at the Leadership Johnson County offices, 63 Henry St., Franklin. Online contributions can also be made at leadershipjohnsoncounty.org.
HOW TO HELP
What: Members of the Youth Leadership Academy, a part of Leadership Johnson County, are collected boxes of cereal to be included in the Good Cheer Fund food distribution on Dec. 23.
Goal: 500 boxes of cereal
How to help: People can drop off boxes of cereal at the Leadership Johnson County offices, 63 Henry St., Franklin. Online contributions can also be made at leadershipjohnsoncounty.org.
Deadline: Organizers hope to have all boxes collected by Dec. 8.
