Volunteers sought for Feed My Starving Children MobilePack
Feed My Starving Children MobilePack is seeking individuals who would like to help pack nutritional meals for children later this month.
There are three churches participating in this year’s Cape Coral Feed My Starving Children MobilePack – St. Katharine Drexel, the founding member of the Cape Coral MobilePack, Christ Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran.
In 2016 Cape Coral MobilePack provided 108,864 meals for children in Trinidad using 534 volunteers, 132,192 meals were packed by 633 volunteers and sent to Nicaragua in 2017 and last year 201,744 meals were packed by 1,031 volunteers to be sent to Haiti.
Feed My Starving Children was founded in 1987 as a Christian nonprofit organization “committed to feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit.” The food that is packed is sent to partners around the world in 70 different countries and used to operate orphanages, schools, clinics and feeding programs to break the cycle of poverty.
“We pack what is called ManaPack Rice, which is a mixture of rice, soy (protein source), dehydrated vegetables and a mixture of vitamins and minerals,” Cape Coral MobilePack Co-Leader Barth Wolfe said. “The formula for ManaPack Rice came from a team of food scientists at Cargill with help from colleagues at General Mills and Pillsbury. It was scientifically designed to address malnourished children’s need for nutrition and constitutes a full day’s supply of nutrition.”
To meet this year’s goal of 194,400 meals packed, organizers need to raise $42,878. So far, they have raised $28,000.
“Money has come from several different fundraisers at the three partner churches. One that some of the churches has used is to sell M&M tubes for $1 and ask that they be returned filled with quarters, which fit perfectly in the tubes. Each tube holds 56 quarters and we tell people that since each meal costs about a quarter, 22 cents, that they are providing 56 meals for malnourished children,” Wolf said. “This has been very popular with our religious education students at St. Katharine Drexel. There have also been feeding tree fundraisers where people take an item off the tree that correlates to a set number of meals. We also have several large donors who donate each year.”
In an effort to meet their goal, they are still raising money. With a 22 cent cost per meal, there is no donation too small. Donations can be made at give.fmsc.org/capecoral. A check can also be sent to Feed My Starving Children, 401 93rd Avenue NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433 with #1902-218NO in the memo line.
The Feed My Starving Children MobilePack will be held Feb. 18, and Feb. 19, at Challenger Middle School, 624 Trafalgar Parkway. On Monday, afternoon and evening sessions are available and on Tuesday morning, afternoon and evening sessions are offered. Each session is two hours long.
“We need about 900 volunteers and so far sign-up is going well,” he said.
Those who are interested in participating are asked to register at give.fmsc.org/capecoral, or contact Michelle Pescatrice at tinasmom53@comcast.net, or call (239) 339-3076.
“We are asking people to bring in a non-perishable food item as we are collecting them for the local Cape Coral Caring Center food bank,” Wolf said. “If you can’t pack this year, we invite people to stop out to see what this is all about and consider their church, school, family, or other group (to get) involved next year.”
Four years ago Cape Coral became involved in the program for several reasons.
“First, it fills a foundational need in third world countries, which is food. FMSC always says ‘food is the foundation.’ It is needed not just simply to survive, but for children to be successful,” Wolf said.
He provided an example that attendance and success are greatly improved when a school has a feeding program with Feed My Starving Children.
The program also provides a tangible way to serve the poor.
“Anyone age 5 and over can participate and we have jobs for those who need a simple sitting job as well,” Wolf said of a 102- year-old gentleman who participated last year. “Over 50 percent of the 330 million meals that FMSC produced last year were packed by children under 18. What a great way to learn about serving others.”
The final reason, he said is they like the ecumenical nature of the event and how it brings different churches together to do God’s work.
“We hope to have additional churches join us next year,” Wolf said.