Inspiration From Washington D.C Is Put Into Action in Washington, Mo.
120 Franklin County FFA members gathered to pack meals for their communities.
As part of the FFA motto, FFA members across the country are tasked with the responsibility of “Living to Serve.” In Franklin County, Mo., four FFA chapters came together during National FFA Week to embody “Living to Serve” by packing 52,000 meals for community members in need.
Over the summer, senior officers Karissa Barrett, Grant Cottrell and Alyssa Deppe of the Washington FFA Chapter had the opportunity to attend the Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. One of the many opportunities offered at the conference was participating in a service project with Meals of Hope. Meals of Hope is a nonprofit organization that focuses on bringing communities together to fight hunger.
With service on their mind and inspired by their Washington, D.C. trip, these Washington, Mo., FFA members came home with the hope of serving their community. To obtain their goal, Washington FFA joined forces with the other three FFA chapters in Franklin County: St. Clair FFA, Sullivan FFA and Union FFA. In a short amount of time, this determined group raised over $17,000 together to sponsor the Meals of Hope packing event.
Various FFA members work together to bring hope to the hungry.
During National FFA Week, on Feb. 23, 2026, 120 FFA members from Franklin County gathered at the Washington Elks Lodge to pack the meals. Together, these members packed 52,000 meals, which went directly back into the FFA chapters’ communities. Members enjoyed spending the day working with each other to make a difference in their communities.
Members involved in this project have many positive comments about their experience. “I loved Meals of Hope,” says Alina Cottrell from the Washington FFA Chapter. “It was a great opportunity to show leadership and support our community.”
Haley Hilkerbaumer from the Union FFA Chapter enjoyed getting to meet new people and serve the community with them. Logan Lane of the St. Claire FFA Chapter shared that his favorite part of the event was “seeing everyone from the community come together to help feed the community while having fun doing it.”
The St. Claire FFA, Sullivan FFA, Union FFA and Washington FFA Chapters are each living to serve in impactful ways.
