Youth Fighting Rural Hunger

Who We Are

Hunger Ambassadors are youth passionate about fighting rural hunger, led by members of the Olympia Pacesetters 4-H Club based in Stanford, IL. We are working to build.a network of Emergency Mini Food Pantries in the greater McLean County, IL area.

In 2008, we established a food pantry in our hometown. We quickly realized that there was great need for such a resource in our rural community of 600.

In 2018, we built our very first Emergency Mini Food Pantry adjacent to our food pantry in Stanford. We were receiving many calls in the week leading up to our regular monthly food pantry distributions from patrons requesting just a few items to get them through the rest of the month until the next distribution date. The Emergency Mini Food Pantry concept was an idea from our 4-H members and brought to life when we got together for our Global Youth Service Day activities that spring.

Emergency Mini Food Pantries (EMFPs) are food boxes available to the community 24-7. We build them using insulated metal boxes to protect the food from the weather and ensure access all year round. EMFPs are stocked with nonperishable food items that would create a meal for a family of four, tiding them over for a meal or two until they can obtain long-term resources.

Our goal is to install EMFPs in every community in the Olympia school district (where many of our 4-H members attend school), then expanding to rural communities across McLean county and beyond!

We are partnering with youth-oriented organizations in each community to build new EMFPs. We work with our partner organization to identify a location and assist with the construction of the new EMFP. We work to secure grant funding to build each EMFP, so it comes at no cost to the partner organization. We then hand the reins over to our partner organizations to manage the EMFP, ensuring that it is always stocked with food and well-maintained.

Our EMFP Network

Use the Google Map below to locate our existing Emergency Mini Food Pantries. Pins are dropped at the location of each EMFP. Click the pin to read a description of how to find the EMFP and view photos taken from street view and up close. Many EMFPs are built near a building to protect it from weather, but all EMFPs are visible from the street or public parking lot, accessible 24-7, and marked with a EMFP/Hunger Ambassadors sign (scroll down for example). Most EMFPs are metal (silver) boxes atop a cement block pedestal. Photos on our map are kept up to date so you can see exactly where your nearest EMFP is located and what it looks like.

Look for a sign like this, which designates an official Emergency Mini Food Pantry in the Hunger Ambassadors network.

Interested in Partnering with Us?

We are always seeking new partner organizations to help us expand our Emergency Mini Food Pantry network across the McLean County area! We are always seeking new grant opportunities so we can provide the supplies and look to your organization to help us identify the location and take over management once the EMFP is built. Complete the contact form below to let us know that your organization is interested.