This year, the Big Giants 4-H Club of Northfield provided opportunities for 4-H members to
explore civic engagement through a series of community service projects for the Northfield
Community Action Center (CAC). Their projects were showcased as the club's Community Pride
Project at the Rice County Fair and earned them a trip to show it at the Minnesota State Fair,
Aug. 27–Sept. 7. Activities included a hands-on grocery store scavenger hunt, delivering
hundreds of pounds of food, helping clean and date-check items, and assembling holiday meal
kits. These activities prepare 4-H'ers to lead, serve and take on challenges.
Grocery Store Food Shelf Scavenger Hunt
On Monday, May 11, the club held its May meeting activity — a Grocery Store Food Shelf
Scavenger Hunt at Cub Foods in Northfield. Club officers led teams through the store, with each
group given a set budget and limited time to find the most-needed items for the local food shelf.
Thanks to Thrivent Community Impact cards, teams focused on basic food needs, personal
hygiene items and baby supplies.
The activity was fun, engaging, and purposeful, and the club officers did a great job leading the
groups. Beyond the shopping, 4-H members walked away with some powerful lessons:
• Teamwork matters — working together across different age groups helped everyone
get to know each other and is a powerful growth activity.
• Budgeting is hard — shopping for a family on a budget meant making many tough
choices, and these items aren't cheap.
• Every family is different — needs vary, and compassion grows when you see that
firsthand.
• Community pride is real — there’s nothing quite like the feeling of doing something
meaningful for others.
A special thank you goes to club parents for their guidance and help, and to the employees at
Cub Foods, who were welcoming and supportive.
"Shopping in teams was a great way to work together, and it helped us think from different
perspectives," said Sam Harner, Big Giants 4-H Club secretary. "It allowed us to experience the
decisions families make every time they walk into a store."
Following the event, the club delivered a total of 303 pounds of food, hygiene items and baby
supplies to the Northfield Community Action Center.
Hygiene Kits
"I never realized everything that the Community Action Center provides for our community,"
said Faith Kelly, Big Giants 4-H officer. "In the past, we collected food and baby supplies, but I
never thought about the other needs of the family."
The club assembled 20 hygiene kits for the adults and children. Kits included:
● Shampoo and conditioner
● Body wash
● Toothbrush and toothpaste
● Bars of Soap
● Hygiene wipes
Members voted to match the funds from the Thrivent Community Impact cards to maximize
impact and double the number of kits provided to the food shelf.
Volunteering at the CAC
Over Christmas break, several 4-H members gathered at the food shelf branch located in the
Northfield Community Education Center to help food shelf staff with a variety of tasks. They
cleaned shelves, checked dates on food items and reorganized the center's storage areas.
"What the food shelf needs changes all the time," said Gunnar Johnson, Big Giants 4-H Club
president. "This time it wasn't donations — it was getting the shelves cleaned and the supplies
organized so the staff could find what families needed."
Holiday Meal Kit Delivery
At the December meeting, the Big Giants 4-H Club assembled food kits for the Northfield
Community Action Center, totaling 285 pounds of food!
• 30 green bean casserole and cornbread kits
• 30 stuffing, mashed potatoes/gravy, and corn kits
• 30 sugar cookie mix/frosting and brownie/frosting kits
“The food was purchased using funds received through the MN 4-H Food Partner Challenge
Project grant,” said Olive Perryman, Big Giants 4-H club member and the youth leader who
applied for the grant. “I always enjoy collaborating with the Northfield food shelf and helping
my community.”
As part of the grant, Olive also developed a video of the activity that was submitted to the
Minnesota 4-H office.
The Big Giants outlined the above projects on their community service poster at the Rice
County fair and were awarded a reserve champion for these efforts! They displayed this
poster at the State Fair.
“We are so proud of these 4-H’ers and grateful for the opportunity to serve our community
together,” said Rachael Johnson, Big Giants 4-H Club Leader. “These experiences teach our
youth that they have the power to make a real difference right here in Northfield.”
To learn more about Rice County 4-H at https://extension.umn.edu/local/rice and learn about
the Northfield Community Action Center food shelf and food access programs, visit
communityactioncenter.org.
