By Lance Patterson
Kids First
One thing I’ve learned in more than 20 years at the Boys & Girls Club is this: kids love to eat. If you want them to focus on homework, offer pizza. If you want them to show up for an activity, snacks help. And if you want to celebrate, you’d better have food.
But over the years, I’ve also realized something harder—sometimes that snack or slice of pizza isn’t just a treat. For some kids, it might be the extra bit that gets them through to school breakfast the next morning.
Food insecurity isn’t something that happens “somewhere else.” It’s right here in Hutchinson. According to the 2025 Reno County Community Health Assessment, more than 13% of residents experience food insecurity. Kids feel it too: one in five lives in a food‑insecure home, over 30% worry their family will run out of food, and about 20% say they’ve skipped meals because there wasn’t enough.
Food insecurity affects everything—health, schoolwork, and how kids feel about themselves. That’s why we knew we needed to go beyond offering free snacks. Yes, we teach a few basic food-prep skills, and Cupcake Wars is a favorite summer activity. But we wanted something deeper. Something that could help kids long after they leave the Club. The truth was, we just didn’t have all the skills to build that kind of program on our own.
Then came a cup of coffee with Dr. Megan Bartley. It didn’t take long to see that what she could bring to our kids could be truly life-changing. And that’s how this new partnership was born.
This summer, Kitchen Hero Academy and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hutchinson are teaming up for a 16‑session cooking and nutrition program for 6th–8th graders. Together, we’re giving middle schoolers a hands-on, practical introduction to cooking and healthier eating.
Kids will learn:
- Basic kitchen skills and safety,
- How to explore fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains, proteins, and healthy fats,
- How to cook on a budget and,
- How to build a balanced meal.
And when they’re done, they’ll go home with:
- A personalized cookbook,
- A set of kitchen tools and,
- The confidence to cook real meals for themselves and their families.
This partnership helps us fight food insecurity not just with short‑term support, but with long‑term skills that lead to independence.
Food insecurity in Hutchinson is real—but it’s something we can take on together. Our kids want to learn. Our community cares. And we have programs that make a difference.
If we want a more food-secure future, we can start the same way we’ve always connected with kids: through food. Only this time, instead of waiting for a meal, they’ll be learning to make one. When we teach kids to cook, we’re not just filling their stomachs—we’re building stronger families, creating new opportunities, and helping our community take care of its own.
Lance Patterson is the chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hutchinson.