Meet Ruby

Good work deserves to be shared.

Read FFT news, community reflections, event recaps, and the stories that show what neighbors can accomplish together.

Ruby, a fuzzy mascot holding strawberryRuby
Ruby, the Stories page mascot
Good news is worth sharing

Ruby shines a light on local care in action.

Stories that grow

Every act of care leaves a story worth sharing.

News and stories

A new chapter in local food support.

Program update

School-based food pantries will help nourish whole families.

Through an expanded partnership with River Bend Food Bank, FFT is transitioning from individual weekend meal bags to school-based food pantries. Families will have access to larger pantry staples such as cereal, peanut butter, pancake mix, pasta, canned goods, and other nutritious grocery items.

FFT will continue purchasing supplemental foods to complement pantry inventory. This approach helps stretch each donated dollar while increasing the amount and variety of food available for weekends and beyond.

2013

It began with one school

Food For Thoughts started by serving children at Carthage Primary School.

For more than a decade

Volunteers carried the work

Dedicated neighbors packed and delivered weekend meal bags to local children.

Today

Nearly 300 students

FFT now works alongside school communities and education partners throughout Hancock County.

Words from the heart

Food for Thoughts

A reflection on compassion, nourishment, and the neighbors who make this work possible.

In every town, on every street,
Are quiet hearts we sometimes meet.
With hidden burdens, silent tears,
And hopes carried through weary years.

A table filled, a caring hand,
Can change a life more than we planned.
A loaf of bread, a warm embrace,
Can fill a soul with hope and grace.

At Food for Thoughts, we stand as one,
Until the work of love is done.
Not judging where the road has led,
But simply making sure they're fed.

For hunger touches young and old,
It knows no story left untold.
Yet kindness speaks a stronger word,
In every meal, in every bird's song heard.

A neighbor's gift, a volunteer's smile,
Can make the hardest journey worthwhile.
Together we become the light
That carries others through the night.

For every can, each box, each prayer,
Reminds the world that someone cares.
And every heart that chooses to give
Helps another family truly live.

So may our shelves stay full with grace,
And love be found in every place.
For hope is planted, one meal at a time,
Growing stronger with each act so kind.

This is our mission. This is our way.
To lift our neighbors every day.
To nourish bodies, hearts, and dreams—
Together, we're stronger than it seems.