Today we’d like to introduce you to Will Lourcey.
Will, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was 7 years old, I was riding home from baseball games the summer after first grade. I would see the same man on a street corner holding a sign that read NEED A MEAL. I didn’t understand what the sign meant, so I asked my parents to explain it. It made me sad inside to learn there were people in my community who needed food to eat. A few weeks late, my parents asked what I wanted to do over the summer other than video games, and I told them I wanted to help the man on the street corner. I think I surprised them, but they were excited to help me, and that’s when I decided to set out to feed the hungry.
I felt sad inside to learn there were people in my community who were hungry, so I decided to ACT! I felt really excited to think that I could make a positive change in my community.
I gathered friends from school and my baseball team to make a hunger-fighting group. They weren’t exactly sure how we were going to help the hungry, but they were excited to learn more. We had our first meeting at pour local food bank, Tarrant Area Food Bank. We toured the facility and talked with a director about ways to help the hungry, provide food and raise awareness.
The first step I took to make FROGs a reality was to gather friends who would support the idea that a kid could make a difference. We decided to create our motto “Having Fun while Helping Others.” Inspired by our motto, we started creating programs to engage more and more kids. We designed events such as “Hit Hunger” dodgeball tournament, “FROGs at the Plate” baseball events, and “Game Over for Hunger” laser tag parties, all to raise money to provide food for the hungry and raise awareness for the issue of hunger.
The biggest challenge I faced was getting adults to embrace my idea of ending hunger. A lot of adults saw a 7-year-old standing in front of them and tended to dismiss my ideas. The way I handled this was by being persistent.
FROGs began as a simple idea of raising donations and awareness for the hungry in our community through lemonade stands, yard sales and popsicle stands. It started small and has grown to reach thousands of kids and provide meals to over 750,000 people. The way we expanded FROGs was by reaching out to all groups such as public, private, charter, homeschoolers; we tried to engage as many kids as possible. This helped form a foundation of volunteers. It was effective from the beginning because it set the tone that FROGs was inclusive and welcomed all different types of kids with varied interests.
At first, we worked with the local food bank distributing food at their mobile food bank. This was awesome because it showed us the real faces of hunger. Hunger doesn’t discriminate; it affects every age group, religion, education level. It showed us that hunger even affects kids. This outreach at the mobile food pantry created more questions for us and presented an awesome opportunity for FROGs to address childhood hunger. I learned that hunger affects 1 out of every 4 kids in my state, and I knew this is what FROGs needed to do next. We met with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth and learned one of their branches was in a food desert. Kids didn’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. So, I designed a Dinner Club program which would provide a dinner experience for the kids and provide fresh, healthy meals. It’s called FROGs Dinner Club: Fresh Food, Friends & Fun! We serve healthy catered meals to kids and then engage them in a service project to help others. We believe: It doesn’t matter where you live, what you look like, what your background might be—We ALL have the ability to help others. We hold the dinner events every month serving over 50 kids healthy, fresh meals.
I’m now 14 years old and determined to keep working to mobilize and empower kids to make our world a better place.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Friends Reaching Our Goals – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
FROGs has engaged thousands of volunteers and has provided over 750,000 meals to the hungry. I believe this is absolutely amazing! I started FROGs when I was 7 years old, so my initial expectations were to have fun and collect 1,000 cans of food for our local food bank. We did that for sure and over the past 7 years have provided over 750,000 meals for the hungry far exceeding anything we could have dreamed of that first summer. My ultimate goal for FROGs is to expand our Dinner Club program to more and more branches of the Boys & Girls Club serving meals and empowering youth to help others.
My proudest moment has been after each of our Dinner Club events when kids are smiling and tell us thank you for serving them food. It makes me happy to know that we are providing healthy, fresh food to kids who don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Food insecurity is a social injustice, and to know I am helping solve this injustice and put an end to it —-well, that’s EPIC!
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The part about Fort Worth I like best is the “Can-do” spirit. This community is supportive and believes in the power of creating a better world. I’m a fifth-generation Fort Worthian and proud of it. I like to tell people: Be a Doer, not a watcher…Change the World today!
Without the support from this great city, I wouldn’t have been able to form FROGs and grow it into a 501c3 which has made an amazing impact. I’m thankful for the partnerships and support from organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Fort Worth and also Tarrant Area Food Bank. These nonprofits are superb examples of what is great about Fort Worth. Our community cares about kids and believes in empowering kids to help others.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.WillLourceyFrogs.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fortworthfrogs/
- Twitter:@WillLourceyFrogs
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