RCCF, Batesville HS & Oldenburg Academy Varsity Football Teams Are Turning Over Hunger

The Turnover Hunger program encourages football fans to pledge a dollar amount for every turnover their favorite team forces during the season.

Photo provided.

(Ripley County, Ind.) - For the 2020 football season, Batesville High School and Oldenburg Academy football teams joined forces with the Ripley County Community Foundation to Turnover Hunger in Ripley County. The Turnover Hunger program encourages football fans to pledge a dollar amount for every turnover their favorite team forces during the season. At the end of the season, the Community Foundation collects the pledges, and the proceeds are donated to the Weekend Backsack Programs administered in local Elementary Schools. Working together, these two teams collectively raised more than $10,000 since the program’s inception, and started an Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation that will continue supporting the team’s efforts forever. In 2019 alone, the team’s donations helped feed more than 1,100 citizens in Ripley County.

“16% of children under the age of 18 living in Ripley County are currently experiencing food insecurity, which is defined as a lack of a regular source of food to support a healthy lifestyle and basic nutrition needs,” (Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, 2018). “Upon hearing these numbers, the teams chose to make a positive impact on their peers and support the Weekend Backsack Program, to ensure the food is going directly in the hands of children,” stated Laura Hamilton, Ripley County Community Foundation’s Program Officer. The Weekend Backsack Program provides a backpack of food to Ripley County elementary schools for children who face food insecurity on the weekends. These backpacks are filled with kid-friendly food that is easily prepared and provides nutrition they may not receive when they are outside of school. The students are identified by teachers, and runs from September through May, serving the Batesville, Jac-Cen-Del, Milan, South Ripley, and Sunman-Dearborn schools. The Weekend Backsack program is privately funded, and current programs are not meeting the needs without further support.

“The Turnover Hunger program not only supports the hungry, but it is giving our youth a platform to address the issues that are important to them,” stated Amy Streator, Executive Director of RCCF. Streator further stated, “The Board of Directors wants the community foundation to give local residents, of all ages and backgrounds, not just the tools, but the confidence needed to act upon the passions tugging at their heartstrings.”

The Turnover Hunger Fund, and all of the funds administered by the community foundation, are always accepting donations. You may make a one time donation or a pledge to the Turnover Hunger Fund on our website at www.rccfonline.org , or you may mail a donation to the Ripley County Community Foundation at 13 E. George St, Suite B, Batesville, IN 47006, (812) 933-1098.