How To Make 272,160 meals In Three Days For 24 Cents Each

By Laura Michaud

Well, me and about 1,300 volunteers-- individuals and groups from local churches, organizations, scout troops and others. We all came together for the Second annual Central Connecticut Feed My Starving Children MobilePack Event, August 26-28 at a warehouse on Massirio Drive, donated by Northeast Utilities/CL&P.

Spearheaded last year by a committee born out of Bethany Covenant Church in Berlin, interest this year has grown to include 40 groups: churches of all denominations, other faith-groups, corporate donors, scouts, civic groups and more,some traveling from NY and MA, making this not just a Berlin event, but really a regional event for a really worthy cause: malnourished, starving - dying, really - children around the world.

As a member Bethany Covenant, I was familiar with the mission of Feed My Starving Children (FMSC,) a Minnesota-based Christian non-profit organization (which has gotten a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, 6 years in a row). I couldn’t participate in last year’s event due to a family wedding, but I was determined to participate this year. My 9-year old daughter, Carli, was eager to volunteer as well, after learning about it at camp this summer and filling her mini-M&M™ tubes. (A fundraiser for the event, where plastic tubes are given out filled with mini-M&Ms, and returned filled with quarters, each full tube holding $14, enough to pay for 58 MannaPack© Meals.)

We showed up Thursday for our 2-hour shift ready to work! We donned the required hair nets, feeling goofy until we looked around and saw everyone else wearing them too, making them the “must-have” style accessory of the three day event. We joined 127 others on this shift to watch a 5-10 minute talk about FMSC, a short video showing children whose health was restored and lives saved, and then a demonstration of the packing technique: CHICKEN-VEGGIES-SOY-RICE. At this point, what is a serious goal is turned into fast-paced, fun and competitive teamwork.

Seven teams of about 20 are set up at dual workstations, with job assignments from scooping to measuring to sealing and packing, there is something for everyone from age 7 to 70+. Working to the beat of fun, motivating popular music (Bon Jovi’s “Oh, we’re half way there, Oh-Oh, living on on a prayer” seemed perfect at the half-way point.) we packed “Chicken-Veggies-Soy-Rice” MannaPacks in boxes of 36. At the end of our shift, we had packed 23,000 "MannaPacks" providing 65 severely malnourished children in Swaziland, Africa 1 hot meal a day for 1 year, at 24 cents per meal!

Carli had so much fun, and was so... inspired, by having done something with such potential to help other children, she said “Mom, can we do this again tomorrow?” and yes, we could! Friday night, Carli brought her friends Kaitlyn and Serena. 110 people packed 29,000 meals, which will feed 58 children 1 hot meal a day for a year. Saturday, we did another shift, 120 volunteers packed just under 40,000 meals, which will feed 108 children 1 hot meal a day for a year. All totaled,1,300 volunteers packed 272,161 meals in three days!

The packing is done, filling an entire shipping container which will deliver the meals directly to Swaziland, Africa for the second year. But the work is not done yet, as Central Connecticut FMSC is still raising funds to pay for the cost of the meals, having reached about $30,000 of their goal of $51,000. They have until December 31, 2011 to meet the goal. With donors paying the cost of the food, the recipent, Children’s Cup,  receives these sustenance meals for free and pays only the cost of shipping.

Upcoming fundraising events include a Ladies Spa Night with manicure, pedicures, chair massage, and more on Friday, September 16 at 7:00pm at Bethany Covenant Church, $5 suggested donation. Also, Central Connecticut FMSC organizers are having a juried craft fair and Farmer’s Market, “Harvest for Hunger” at Bethany Covenant on Saturday, October 22. The craft fair will feature quality products from local artisans, and the Market will have local produce and food items. Bethany Covenant will again this year be donating all proceeds from their annual Pumpkin Patch to the cause as well. The Pumpkin Patch will run from Sept. 26-29 and Oct.3-31.

If you would like to get involved, donate, or learn more, visit Feed My Starving Children’s website, Central CT FMSC blog, or on Facebook. You can also make a $10.00 donation by texting “iPack” to 50555 or, donations can be made online at https://www.fmsc.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=447&event=1108-53.