Farm and Food

Our farm crew worked well this year, harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and more. They battled the hot sun and squash bugs, but we are grateful for their hard work. Because of the farm team, we will continue to harvest vegetables and feed the community well into the fall.  

In the kitchen, the culinary team cooked and served 1,600 meals, often featuring fresh produce and sourdough bread made from scratch. Under the guidance of our new culinary instructor, every dish brought heart and soul to the table.

Constructing and Repairing

The construction team took on a huge fence and pergola project. The summer consisted of digging a lot of holes and required attention to detail as well as patience. Their efforts have set the foundation for our new community garden beds. 

Meanwhile, the mechanics/landscaping team gained hands-on experience with everything from fixing motorbikes, to oil changes, to changing brake pads. They also kept our farm looking nice by keeping up with the landscaping.

Learning and Growing

In the classroom, the boys learned about beekeeping and best agriculture practices to apply to the work in the fields. They were introduced to soft-skills like respect, accountability, confidence and chivalry. We continued our ZONE programming through mindfulness and yoga.

The last week of the summer was full of fun activities. We kicked off the week with a field day. The boys had the opportunity to swim, kayak, practice archery, and use slingshot for target practice. On the final day of the program we had our annual BoysGrow olympics. Events included things like a ranger push, a chess, an obstacle course, and trivia.

We are eager to continue our mentorship program throughout the school year. The youth will be coming out to the farm at least once a month. The first time they will be out here will be to help prepare for Farm Fest on September 13th.

Check out the gallery below for more pictures from this summer.

The evening began with a VIP Happy Hour in the Farm Kitchen, where guests enjoyed creative bites from Chefs Amante Domingo, Michael Corvino, and Tia Throckmorton. In honor of our presenting sponsor, the Kansas Beef Council, the menu featured dishes that celebrated beef in all its flavorful forms.

Guests roamed the farm to experience three open-fire cooking hearths manned by Amante Domingo, Adam Jones, and Vaughn Good — each chef bringing their own distinct style to the flames. The air buzzed with live music from steel drums and a guitar, and fire dancers illuminated the night with energy and artistry.

One of the evening’s most powerful moments came from Caleb, a second-year BoysGrow youth, who shared how the program has given him acceptance and irreplaceable friendships.

We’re deeply grateful to our sponsors — Kansas Beef Council, Seaboard Foods, Evergy, KC Tool, the Bloch Family, and the Stowers Family — for helping make this event possible.

We are grateful for this truly special evening. Thank you to everyone for your support.

Thank you Jeff Evrard for capturing the evening. Check out the gallery below.

Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us — your presence matters.

One of the most powerful moments of the night came from one of our own. James, a second-year youth in the BoysGrow program, stood up and delivered a speech that left the crowd inspired and grounded in why we do this work.

As part of our public speaking team, James has been developing the confidence and skills to share his story — and on Sunday, he nailed it. In front of family, friends, donors, and guests, he spoke from the heart about what BoysGrow means to him. His message? We come from different backgrounds, but BoysGrow brings us together.

We’re proud of you, James. Keep leading with courage.

Huge thanks to:

• Triune for the delicious 3-course meal.
  
• Phon Wills Photo for beautifully capturing the evening.
  
• Fike for sponsoring this event and helping make it all possible.
  

Scroll down to read James’ full speech. You’ll see why we’re so proud.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone, and welcome to Date Night on the Farm. Thank you all for coming. I want to tell you my story to show you that people from all backgrounds can come together, like here at Boys Grow.  

By a raise of hands, how many of you have had an encounter with the police? One of my earliest memories is from when I was 5 years old. The police regularly came to my house for wellness checks, but in early 2016 this wellness check didn’t seem the same. I looked outside to see my mom’s tears running down her face as an officer was talking to her, so I went out to see what was going on. Seeing all of those police cars outside was a shocking surprise. With my trash bag full of clothes, and as an officer was escorting me to the police car I heard my mom say, “I love you,” but barely, under her tears.  

Ok ok, I should probably introduce myself before I go on. 

My name is James; this is my second year at Boys Grow. I work on the farm team, mainly with the animals. After they took my brother Chris and I away we were sent to an emergency foster home where we stayed for a month. I was not treated well there, but luckily, my brother had a different experience. After that month I was happy to get out of there. We were then sent to a place called the Noyse home, a group home for kids, some in foster care just like us. I felt like I shouldn’t be there and I wanted to go home. We were there for a little over a month, but it felt like forever. Luckily, that is a short amount of time compared to many others in the system. 

After the Noyse home, my brother and I were sent to a new foster home. It was much different compared to my old house, they cooked dinner. It was a lot better compared to McDonalds every day. My Brother and I were supposed to be there for a few weeks, but [looks at watch] that was 9 years ago. My parents are here tonight and thanks to the stability they provide, I feel safe, and like we are a true family. 

My brother is here tonight too! He graduated from Boys Grow in 2022. Seeing his experience, I knew I wanted to be a part of it too. 

Since working here at Boys Grow, I feel more courageous, and my social skills have grown. Boys Grow has shown me how hard work and dedication can pay off. I am looking forward to using the skills I’ve learned here as I go into high school this fall, and even in my future career. 

Every kid in Boys Grow comes with their own back story, and Boys Grow brings us all together to teach us so much about growing up and gives us the life skills needed to confidently enter the next stage of our lives. 

Thank you for listening to my story. Thank you. 

A special shoutout goes to our phenomenal sponsors, Cargill, Seaboard Foods, The Kauffman Foundation, Fike Corporation, United HealthCare, G3 Solar, and Matthew Norris who played a vital role in making Farm Fest 2023 the biggest event of the year! Your support means the world to us.

As anyone who’s attended FarmFest knows, it’s not just about the farm; it’s about the food too! Our heartfelt thanks go out to our dedicated food vendor partners, including Dispatch Pizza, Deez Nachos, The Prospect KC, Taste Island Grill, Pot Pie KC, Baked by Bobbi, the BoysGrow culinary team, and Torn Label Brewing Co. Also, a big thanks to Tito’s Vodka for generously providing in-kind drinks.

Through our collective efforts, we raised nearly $50,000, and that’s a remarkable testament to the generosity of our community and the impact of BoysGrow. Thank you for helping us make a difference!

Finally thank you to the BoysGrow staff [John, Tariq, Xochitl, Nicolas, Russ, Ethan, Dan] and FarmFest committee members [Daniel, Olivia, Xochitl, Tariq, John] that helped us organize another successful event and volunteers from Commerce Bank, and United Healthcare that helped us on the days leading up to the event.

Special thanks to Lacy Voight Gordon Photography for capturing the sweet moments we shared. View the full photo gallery below:

Thank you to our event sponsor: Fike Corporation

Beverage sponsor: Martin City Brewery The BoysGrow team: Tariq, Johnny, Xochitl & Russ The Team at Dispatch Pizza: Jeremy, Kelly, and the fam Our friends at the Prospect: Chef Shanita, Chef Terra and Chef Stephanie 

This month we had the pleasure of hosting members of an Amish community outside of Hutchinson, KS. We had quite a bit that we needed to get done, so having the help of the 40+ members of the Amish community expedited things quite nicely. We were surprised by how much was accomplished. 

Every year, the Amish community from Hutchinson, KS youth group (single members ages 16-40)  choose a site from across the country to dedicate and volunteer their time to. We were fortunate to host the amish youth group this year and welcomed them with the help of our partner Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church. Rolling Hills is a long-time supporter of BoysGrow and extended the doors of their church open to house the Amish on their time away from the farm. 

During their time here, the group worked together to build our long-anticipated chicken house, which is set to hold 30 chickens, including our new baby chicks that we recently homed. They also helped us with a new shed for our goats, as well as fixed the fences that housed the animals. We were even able to do some landscaping around the farm. Doing all of those projects within the span of 4 days sounds like a lot, but the Amish made it look almost too easy! With their help, we were able to make significant progress on other projects that held our attention. 

We are floored with the compassion, joy and felt extremely humbled to have them dedicate their time to us so selflessly. Construction Director Ethan says, “My highlight that week was working among a group of people that weren’t too busy talking about work, TV shows, or even looking at their phones. Something about their appreciation for the little things that I seem to overlook being caught up in the hustle” We were able to learn more about the Amish and their way of life as well as them learning about BoysGrow and our mission. BoysGrow continues to strengthen community relations in order to better serve the young men of our program and their communities. We thank our friends for helping us for that week and bid them farewell in the hopes they’ll return to farm with us again. 

Fast forward a few months, and Javon was invited to Seaboard Foods’ winter internship notably dubbed “Winternship” which is a week-long tour hosted by Seaboard Foods for college students during their Winter break. While there, Javon was introduced to a plethora of Seaboard’s facilities including their farms and processing plant.

“BoysGrow introduced me to Agriculture and now I’m exploring all parts of it. My biggest takeaway is that I got to explore a different type of agriculture. I was only familiar with the cultivation of fruits and vegetable crops. I learned all about the process of turning pig into pork.“

-Javon

Seaboard’s processing hub is in Guymon, Oklahoma, located in the panhandle of Oklahoma.
Their Winternship program serves to recruit college students to become future interns and
employees of Seaboard. According to Beth Gerstenberger, Employee Communications Manager
for Seaboard Foods and a BoysGrow board member, participants are selected from community
recruiting events based on their interest in Agribusiness. “Seaboard has always focused on
growing deep relationships in the places we call home. Seaboard Foods not only operates here
(KC), but it’s also where we live, play and raise our families.” -Beth Gerstenberger.

BoysGrow makes every effort to support youth in their professional and life endeavors. While our goal as a program is not to build future farmers or agriculture leaders, we certainly make every effort to expose and support youth to the wide-range in the agriculture industry as an option for their future, and open as many doors as we can for them.

Last year we had a group of alternative education leaders visit the farm with the Kauffman Foundation to learn about how applied learning is used to change the lives of BoysGrow youth. Through this connection, the idea of having hands-on programming to nurture academic curriculums at our farm came into fruition.

Fast-forward to this fall, and we have 15 students coming to the farm twice a week to learn the basics of one of three trades: Mechanics, Agriculture, and Culinary Arts. Each students gets credit from the school for their experience and enriches their academic curriculum with vocational work by gaining resume-building skills, networking, and even certificate add-ons (eg. OSHAA-10, Food Handling License) through hands-on training.

To enrich their learning experience, students reflect on the skills they are developing through the “Portrait of a North Kansas City Schools Graduate” assessment on a daily basis. This is a requirement for gaining credit– they self-audit their development and self-confidence as they remain aware of the changes and skills that are being developed in real time to develop their own student voice.

Students continue to grow and excel in their respective teams, where they will continue M.A.C. Skills until the end of December.

If you are interested in similar programming for your schools, please contact us at staff@boysgrow.com

View the full photo gallery of the program:

On Sunday October 3rd, 2022 we hosted our final Spotlight series dinner of the year spotlighting Mexico. To close off this cultural dinner series, Chef Fernanda Reyes of Taco Naco KC took us on an ambrosial tour of Mexico with bites from each region of the large country, showcasing the complexity and uniqueness of each region that makes up what we know (and may not know) today of Mexican cuisine.

The evening was filled with a drink and food selection, each capturing a special memory or story from Chef Fernanda:

Jamaica (Hibiscus) Mezcal: My grandfather, born in the heart of Durango would say that mezcal is appropriate for any occasion. This drink honors the heart of mezcal: The city of Nombre de Dios Municipio in Durango.
Passionfruit Margarita: This is one of my favorite drinks because of the freshness of passionfruit combined with acidity of the tequila and lime. Also a namesake for my grandmothers: This drink is to remember the empowered and bold women that are at the pillars of my values
Mexican beer draft assortment: Born in Chihuahua, my maternal grandfather from a young age moved to Mazatlan, Sinaloa, and although I don’t remember much of him, I remember he always asked for a Pacifico beer at any celebratory gathering. He said a cold Pacifico beer and the breeze from the ocean brought him back to life.
Cochinita Pibil Tostada (Yucatan) : This dish is typical to Yucatan, where the Mayan would use a mix of anatto seeds to marinate the pork and cook it under the earth until tender enough to shred
Poblano Shrimp, Ceviche Baja California Style: My mother was born in La Paz Baja California, so I have a big connection with the ocean. The smell of the Pacific ocean always fills me with nostalgia. It feels important for me to add these two dishes for you to try the coastal flavors of Mexico.
Tamal Oaxaqueno (Oaxaca): [At the dinner] we [had] a special guest among us, Josefina Zarate born in Bajos de Chila, Oaxaca. From the age of 12 she learned her family recipes that have prolonged through generations of generations of Mixtec culture. She remembers cooking with her mother all her life, and at the age of 18 she came to to the USA and opened her tamales business, and now she has the best Oaxaca tamales in Kansas City.
Pozole Verde (Guerrero): This delicious broth-based soup is based in corn and is typically combined with radish, cabbage, and oregano.
Baby back rib taco (Monterrey): Northern Mexican tradition calls for red meat on Sundays, that is why I chose this delicious taco to share with family and friends.
Chile en nogada (Pubela): This dish’s history begins in puebla, starting with the nuns of the montesary and this dish is traditionally served during our national heritage month. Aside from it being delicious, it features all of the colors of the Mexican flag: red white and green
Bunuelos de viento (Mexico City): Every fall and winter festivity calls for bunuelos.. usually paired with ponche or champurrado, it is the perfect sweet end to a big dinner.

Thank you to everyone that has continued to support BoysGrow’s mission and for your attendance at our fundraising dinner. We have closed the chapter on our first run of the Spotlight series with Chef Fernanda, but stay tuned for our kickoff next year!

Special Thanks:

Chef Fernanda’s Team from Taco Naco
Our Keynote Speaker from the Culinary Team: David (’23)
BoysGrow Staff and Volunteers
Stockyard Brewery for our “Cerveza Royale”

Photos by Lacy Gordon