Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Dec. 7, 2024 – A Jonesboro Girl Scout working on her Gold Award is looking to combat food insecurity with her Holiday Seasoning and Spice Kits.

Maggie Hutton, 15, is a tenth grader at the Arkansas Connections Academy and a member of the Jonesboro Mayor’s Youth Advancement Council (MYAC), where she serves as a board member.

“I’m working on my Girl Scout Gold award addressing food insecurity in Northeast Arkansas, specifically Craighead County because one in four people in our community suffer from food insecurity,” Hutton said.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. It must create a long-lasting and measurable impact and address the root cause of whatever issue the Girl Scout chooses. Only 5.4% of students earn the award.

“I wanted to do spice kits because a lot of people, whenever they’re donating to food pantries, think of the nutritious value of food, but then they don’t really think about what seasonings would go good with this,” Hutton said. “As a home cook and a home baker, I am aware of just how much a little bit of garlic powder or pepper can make a food or a dish, not only nutritionally fulfilling but also fulfilling to the soul and more palatable and more ‘Hey, I feel happy after eating this’ instead of just ‘I have eaten.’”

Hutton began working on the project in July, when she submitted her project proposal. It was approved in August, after which she immediately began working on her two-part plan. Part one involved fundraising and getting donations. Part two saw the creation of the Food Pantries of Craighead County, Arkansas website, which provides a list of local food pantries and other useful information.

During phase one, Hutton fundraised almost $1,000 and received hundreds of dollars’ worth of donations from local companies and businesses to assemble and distribute spice kits at local food pantries and in 4H Christmas boxes during December.

Fundraising projects included zucchini bread sales over the summer with fresh zucchini from her mom’s, cousin’s and grandpa’s gardens, and pepper jelly sales from September. All proceeds went into buying spices and seasonings

She received over $225 from Walmart, Farm Bureau and individuals; and around 500 products for the kits, including 250 Log Cabin and Mrs. Butterworth’s syrups from Con Agra and 250 spice packets from Cavender’s Greek Seasoning.

All kits will include salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, cumin or chili powder, syrup and Cavender’s seasoning.

Hutton involved the MYAC while designing the website.

“I went to the MYAC board, and I was like, “Hey, is it possible that you all would be able to help me carry this project? Could you put my link to my website on Jonesboro 411 app,” Hutton said.

The website features a list of food pantries and soup kitchens in Craighead County, as well as links to low-cost recipe sites.

“These are recipes that can be used for with the things that typically come in the food boxes or are easy to get for a lower price,” she said. “So, basically the website is a centralized place to find the pantries and some budget recipes websites. It’s an easy place to find those.”

Hutton’s kits will be distributed before Christmas, although she won’t find out until January or February if she receives the Gold Award. If she does, she will be presented the award in April or May.

Maleigha Cook, Craighead County Extension Agent for the 4H Youth Program, which Hutton also participates in, said that she was excited about Hutton’s project and appreciated her donation of 50 spice kits to the 4H Christmas Boxes.

“I think this is going to add a lot of flavor to the holidays for a lot of families,” Cook said. “It is giving something that will bring comfort to them through their food because it is making a more flavorful product and happiness starts in the kitchen.”

The other 200 kits will then be distributed to local food pantries, including Provisions 88 and the A-State Food Pantry.