Local Hunt 4 Hunger chapter plans chili feed next week

The Fort Scott Chapter of Hunt 4 Hunger is planning a free-will donation chili feed next Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Fort Scott High School Commons area to raise money to support Dancing with Our Stars competitors Blake Lundberg and Heather Fink.

The pair will be representing the local chapter of Hunt 4 Hunger at the highly popular dance competition, which raises money for various charities in the area.

Hunt 4 Hunger Board member Scott Engstrom of Uniontown said all proceeds collected by the team during the competition will be donated directly back to the local Hunt 4 Hunger chapter. The third Annual Dancing with Our Stars, presented by Fort Scott Rotary, is set for Feb. 2 at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center on the Fort Scott Community College campus.

Last year's DWOS raised more than $26,000 for 13 teams representing a wide range of charities.

Dancing with Our Stars winners are "voted" for by the amount of money dropped into their assigned buckets, and Engstrom hopes the chili feed will get their group off to a good start.

"There is no set charge for the chili feed," Engstrom said, "It's a free-will donation and hopefully people will drop money into the bucket."

Hunt 4 Hunger was formed nationally in 2007 and works to make hunting a way to help the needy, while sharing their enthusiasm for the sport.

Engstrom said his chapter, formed early last year, has already distributed between 600 and 800 cans of food and has about 200 pounds of meat in freezers at Big Sugar Lumber in Fort Scott and Union Station in Uniontown awaiting distribution.

The Fort Scott chapter of Hunt 4 Hunger board members include Engstrom, David Stewart, Brian Bowen, Ryan Bolton, Brock Shelton, Clint Wombeldorf, Jake Gross and Adam LaRoche.

The group had initially planned a hunt for this month, but canceled due to a conflict with the Emporia chapter. Engstrom said they plan to have an archery event this spring.