10-Year-Old Raises $422 for Hungry Kids—For 4th Year

A 10-year-old girl in Chewelah, Washington just handed over $422 to feed hungry kids this summer, and it's the fourth year in a row she's done it.

Lauren Hoberg lives near the Chewelah golf course, where wayward golf balls regularly land in her yard. Instead of tossing them or keeping them, Lauren collects every single one, cleans them up, and sells them to golfers.

Every dollar she earns goes straight to TASTY, a local program that provides food boxes to families during summer break. This year's donation of $422 came from countless hours of searching, washing, and selling balls one by one.

Lauren presented her fundraising check at a recent TASTY event held at Quartzite Brewery. The fundraiser pulled in $2,700 total through silent auctions and donations, but Lauren's contribution stole the show.

TASTY stands for Temporary Added Sustenance to Youth. The program has spent 13 years making sure local kids don't go hungry when school lunch programs pause for summer.

This year alone, TASTY served 80 families across Chewelah, Valley, Addy, and Summit Valley. The organization spent nearly $30,000 providing five food distributions throughout the summer months, with each box packed with healthy options for growing kids.

The program runs entirely on grants, donations from local businesses, and contributions from community members. Families with kids from preschool through high school can pick up applications at local schools and the Chewelah Food Bank.

Sunny's Take

What makes Lauren's story so special isn't just the money. It's that a fourth grader saw a need in her community and found a creative way to help, year after year.

Most kids her age are focused on summer fun, but Lauren spends her free time hunting for golf balls because she knows other families are struggling. She's learning early that small actions repeated with dedication create real change.

And she's teaching the adults around her something important too: you don't need to be wealthy or powerful to make a difference where you live.

Lauren proves that caring about your neighbors and putting in consistent work matters more than grand gestures. Four years of golf ball sales have likely fed dozens of kids who might otherwise have gone hungry.

Now heading into her fifth summer of fundraising, this young girl from a small Washington town shows us what community really means.