Opportunity to Serve

This weekend the organization Feed My Starving Children came to town. They assemble and distribute food packets to countries around the world with severely starving people. These are people that are thrilled to receive one meal per day. If they eat two meals a day, they are considered wealthy. That was a sobering thought as we considered the solid three meals plus two snacks we enjoy each day. FMSC travel to different cities each week giving people in different areas of the country the opportunity to volunteer and be a part of something bigger than themselves. Ashley and I signed up to help in a 2 hour time slot on Friday. Cody and Ashley helped for 2 hours on Saturday. (Emily was too young this year, so she was fortunate to be able to have a playdate with a great friend from her old class.)

In the host church, we entered a clean room (hair nets required, much to Ashley's dismay). There were many centers set up around the room where we gathered and put bags together assembly style. Each bag contained a scoop of vitamin/mineral/flavoring, a scoop of dehydrated vegetables, a scoop of protein rich soy, and a scoop of rice. When the families receive the bags, all they have to do is add water and heat. Each bag contains 6 high calorie, nutrient rich meals. When Ashley and I served, I opened and held each bag under a funnel catching ingredients. I then gave the bag to Ashley and she weighed it. She added or removed rice to get the bag to the desired weight. When Cody and Ashley served, they each scooped ingredients.

It was a great experience. In the four hours we served, enough meals were packaged to feed over 120 children for a year.