When she helps work the soil or bring in the summer squash that’s ripe this time of year at her family’s farm in Allen County, Michelle Howell carries the memory of childhood hunger with her.

For Howell, who runs Need More Acres Farm with her husband, Nathan, it’s a problem she’s resolved to tackle in her work. That commitment is reflected in a new partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Bowling Green to provide weekly fruit and vegetable snacks and nutrition education materials to students.

“Nathan and I started farming full time in 2013 after one of our children experienced food sensitivity and we lost parents to preventable diseases,” Howell wrote in email responses to the Daily News. “We knew that we wanted our farm to be involved in building a more equitable food system.”

Each week, Howell estimates, Need More Acres Farm feeds 2,000 to 3,000 people. Its partnership with the local Boys and Girls Club is its latest outreach effort.

“Our farm grows over 100 different fruits, vegetables and herbs year-round with weekly distribution. During the summer months squash, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, watermelons, and peppers are favorites,” Howell wrote.

As co-founders of the Community Farmers Market in Bowling Green, Michelle and Nathan Howell have worked to partner with food assistance programs, including those that receive federal Women, Infants and Children or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Those efforts also extend to Western Kentucky University’s Big Red Dollars program and the market’s own double dollars program. The Community Farmers Market is also launching a Fresh RX program for mothers on Medicaid that provides $20 each week for up to 40 weeks, funded by a federal grant in partnership with WellCare of Kentucky and the Community Farm Alliance.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, which has spurred more than 1 million unemployment claims in Kentucky, Howell said the Community Farmers Market is working to boost its outreach efforts.

It continues to provide weekly food deliveries to HOTEL INC, which offers a food pantry, and it’s offering tailored meals to medically fragile patients in partnership with The Medical Center at Bowling Green.

“We’ve been able to partner with the Bowling Green City Schools and Allen County Scottsville schools to provide side salads and veggie snacks for their emergency feeding programs. Watermelons will be distributed to every household participating in (Bowling Green) city schools summer feeding program in the coming weeks,” Howell wrote.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.