BHS HOSA students launch food drive after district data shows local child food insecurity

Brookings High School students Lauren Borton and Amelia Wendell told the Brookings School District 05-1 Board of Education that the school's Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) chapter will run a community food drive March 4–12 to address childhood food insecurity.

Borton and Wendell said the club consulted with the Brookings Food Pantry to design an age-appropriate list of items. "Food insecurity is defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for a healthy life," Borton said during the presentation, noting that HOSA compiled national, state and local statistics to frame the project. The students told the board that Feeding America estimates 1 in 5 children nationwide face food insecurity and that county-level data suggest about 1 in 6 children in Brookings County are affected.

The students asked the public to drop donations off at the VHS front office and said the Brookings High School HOSA chapter will collect items in the March 4–12 window. Board members praised the project at the meeting; one called it a "worthy cause," and Dr. Schultz thanked the students for bringing the issue before the board.

The presentation did not request board funding or formal action; it served as a community-awareness briefing and notice of the drive. The students said they had compiled a list of age-appropriate items requested by the Brookings Food Pantry and encouraged community donations during the stated dates.

Board members and the superintendent voiced support and asked no substantive follow-up questions. The board did not take a vote on the HOSA presentation itself.