The Future of farming appears to be bright in Posey County

By Kristen Lowry

Some may see the young by only noting the top of their heads while looking down at their electronics, but not this 4-Her! Lyla DeShields, seven year 4-H member of the Hoosier Booster Club and Mater Dei High School freshman, took it upon herself to help the community. She saw a need and wanted to make a difference right here in Posey County. When hearing about her philanthropy project, I wanted to interview her in hopes that she can help inspire others to assist in continuing to keep our community the best place to live!

All students at Mater Dei High School are required to fulfill service hours annually both at church and in the community. One of these service projects must be a Corporal Word of Mercy that addresses the physical needs of others such as: Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Clothe the Naked, Shelter the Homeless, Visit the Sick, Visit the Imprisoned, or Bury the Dead. Lyla chose to assist in feeding the hungry. After doing some investigating, Lyla discovered that a local 4-H family plays a large role in providing food at a local food pantry. She thought it would be perfect to connect with them in hopes to fulfill her Corporal Word of Mercy project. “Helping the community and promoting 4-H at the same time, sign me up!” she exclaimed.

To make this project come to fruition, Lyla wanted to involve her 4-H club, the Hoosier Boosters, and so she connected with her 4-H leader Chris Mulkey. “My plan was to facilitate with a local food pantry their most requested items, then I would create a flier and use that during my speech at a 4-H meeting to ask my fellow club members to donate the most requested items at our next meeting. Lastly, I would deliver those items to the food pantry and help with the pantry’s distribution night to see the project through from start to finish.” A lot of steps for this active student athlete to be able to put into place right? While playing archery and tennis, nothing was going to hold Lyla back.

Lyla got busy right away and promoted the project with a great marketing flyer to all of her fellow Hoosier Boosters. At the next needing, the 4-H club members donated so many canned goods that they were able to fill four large boxes. Lyla then arranged for their donation to be delivered to Paster Al Schmitz of Salem Heusler Church. At the church, they house the Salem Heusler Sharing Basket Food Pantry that helps to feed community members in need on the east side of Posey County. Lyla and Paster Schmitz had multiple conversations working together to be sure all the needs of the community were met to the fullest potential.

In February, Lyla was able to put this project to execution with the help of her club, she assisted in providing for 63 families. That was roughly 263 people! She said one family had over six people in it and it felt great to be able to help such a large amount of people.

When asked what she learned from this experience, Lyla stated, “I love how what started as a required activity through school allowed me to incorporate my entire 4-H club of over 50 youth to contribute to this cause. Sometimes we forget just how blessed we are, and that the things we take for granted each day really add up. Each perishable item donated by my peers ended up filling the entire back of our SUV and all of those items were distributed back into our community to help one another.”

If you feel inspired by Lyla’s story and want to get involved with the Salem Heusler Basket Food Pantry, they operate the last Tuesday of each month and are open from 4-6 p.m. Feel free to check them out or the food pantry closest to your home!