Courtesy photo Alpena FFA members Emma Soltysiak, left, and Kaelyn Roznowski, right, are seen standing next to the Alpena FFA’s Little Food Pantry. The pantry was installed in October 2025.

ALPENA — Though the school year has ended for Alpena Public Schools students, the Alpena FFA reflected on a year round project that was successfully implemented this school year called the “Little Food Pantry,” a community resource aimed to combat food insecurity.

According to an Alpena FFA press release on June 9, the chapter installed the resource at the back oval of the high school, the Garden Street entrance, near the agriscience greenhouse. The pantry is accessible to community members 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

FFA Advisor Melissa Smith told The News that Alpena FFA Member Kaelyn Roznowski began developing this project last year. She was inspired to develop this project after attending the National FFA Washington Leadership Conference (WLC) a few years ago, which is held annually each summer at the nation’s capital.

The Alpena FFA chapter sends two members each year to the conference for members to build leadership skills, gain confidence, and learn how to make a positive impact in their community, according to the release. At the conference, Roznowski learned about a Living to Serve (LTS) plan which encourages members to create projects that give back to their communities.

“Growing up in Alpena, I’ve seen kids from school face food insecurity,” Roznowski said in the release. “I wanted to do something to help them and give back to our community, and my idea at WLC turned into the Little Food Pantry.”

The Alpena FFA chapter cited Feeding America statistics which state that 1.5 million residents in Michigan face hunger, approximately 13% of the population. The release stated that counties in Northeast Michigan face food insecurity at rates up to 20%.

Roznowski began planning and designing a food pantry after constructing the pantry in 2025, according to the release. Roznowski worked with AHS Agriscience Paraprofessional Barry Rondeau to install the pantry on the campus in October 2025.

The pantry was stocked with canned and non-perishable food items collected from the “Can-Do Challenge,” which is an event sponsored by Michigan FFA, the release stated. Next, the Alpena FFA applied and received an LTS grant from the National FFA organization for the spring semester and received a matching donation from Meijer. These donations were used to purchase more nonperishable food items.

Smith told The News that the Alpena FFA chapter hopes to make these donations last through summer and into fall.

According to the Alpena FFA chapter, some of these food items were used by agriscience students to make “meals-in-a-bag,” which contained recipe cards and ingredients needed to make a meal. Some bags included birthday bags or recipes for black bean soup, chicken pot pie, chicken gravy and potatoes, or pancakes.

“We created this food pantry to help address the issue of food insecurity that many students and community members face daily,” Smith said in the release. “Part of the FFA motto is ‘living to serve,’ and FFA teaches our members to give back to the community.”

“I am proud of the work Kaelyn did to start this project and look forward to how our members can continue to give back,” she added. “We plan to expand this project in the future by applying for future grants and including personal hygiene products as well.”

Smith told The News that FFA not only aims to teach members and expose them to careers in agriscience and agriculture, but attempts to give members opportunities to develop as leaders.

“It’s a great leadership opportunity,” she said. “They learn skills like public speaking and gain a lot of friendships and connections. Very seldom do I have a student say they regret joining FFA.”

Smith added that the FFA has earned some state and national titles this year for its programming, and members will learn what award level they have earned this fall on the national FFA circuit.

The Alpena FFA Little Food Pantry is open to accept donations. For those interested, contact Smith via email at smithmm@alpenaschools.com or (989) 358-5220.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.