This Saturday the kids and I partcipated in a meal packaging event called Stop Hunger Now. Their mission is to provide direct food relief in crisis areas and areas where chronic hunger and malnutrition exists. The meals packaged Saturday will be sent to Haiti.
I was thrilled to find a service project that the kids and I could do together. Kaleb got to scoop and pour rice into a funnel with three ladies who were rooting him on as he happily waited his turn to pour. Kaitlin was a runner, and brought bins full of the food bags over to the weighing & sealing area, and empty bins back to the food packaging stations. We did this for 2 hours and all really enjoyed it! I will definitely do this again. I would highly recommend this project to anyone who wants to get out and do something to help others. And it's wonderful that parents can bring their children so that everyone is involved.
It was also inspiring. In two hours, 15,000 meals were packaged! It shows what can be done when people come together and work to help others. It didn't even feel like work. Every time we reached 1,000 meals, a bell would ring, and everyone cheered. The atmosphere was uplifting and joyful.
At the beginning, there was a short educational presentation on hunger. After watching it, I think everyone felt excited and motivated to be there, doing something to help. We learned that that a large percentage of the food packages go to schools and orphanages where there are food shortages.
I would encourage everyone I know to get involved with this project, whether through donations or attending a meal packaging event. I definitely plan to do it again, and hopefully make this a tradition with the kids as well.