Over the course of two days in April, volunteers at Villa Maria College will assemble to pack over 100,000 meals, which will then be sent to hungry children all over the world. For months, school affiliated volunteers have been in the process of raising $26,000 to cover the cost of the meals. They have done this in myriad ways, including organizing bake sales and selling painting lessons, for example. Some of the students even opted out of receiving birthday presents, and instead donated the funds to the undertaking. All of these selfless charitable acts were conducted as a way to ensure that the ongoing “Feed My Starving Children” (FMSC) initiative is as fruitful as ever.
The way it works is that the Minnesota-based non-profit group, FMSC, raises funds via a number of different channels, in order to procure the food, before sending it off to cities like Buffalo, where it is individually packed by volunteers. The host site for the two-day packaging event (in Buffalo) is Villa Maria College, where professor Michelle Kearns teaches a public relations class in the Digital Media and Communication program. Kearns’ class is handling the promotion of the event, which is attempting to draw upon the energies of 500 volunteers.
Everyone is invited to attend the event, to observe the task at hand, and maybe even donate to the cause if they like what they see.
Over 6,200 children die each day from starvation according to UNICEF.
“In four, two-hour packing session, about 500 volunteers will come to Villa’s Cheektowaga campus to funnel dehydrated vegetables, soy flakes, vitamins and rice into meal bags that are then shipped around the world to people in need — from the Philippines to Honduras and Uganda,” said Kearns. “We hold the food packing event on campus. It is a project spearheaded by physical therapy professor Dr. Kim Kotz. This is the seventh year of the annual spring meal pack on campus. My students learn about and apply PR principles as they help promote this event by writing press releases and developing projects, like bake sales, video production and social media sharing.”
The volunteers at the FMSC event come from all walks of life, yet share a common desire to help feed starving children in many countries that are remote and unfamiliar. Each person is driven by a shared commonality that they possess – compassion.
“What is the longest you’ve ever gone without eating?” asked Kotz, who hopes to amplify the work next year by attempting to double the number of meals packed in 2019. “Think of how uncomfortable that is. Then imagine dying like that.”
The following steps are taken to ensure that starving children all over the world are fed (see success stories at FMSC):
- People just like you donate funds for the meal ingredients
- Volunteers hand-pack the meals
- Meals are donated to FMSC food partners around the world
- Kids are fed and lives are saved
The goal of the Christian non-profit organization, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), is to simply feed children. Not just some of the children, or most of the children, but all of the children. According to the group’s website, the initiative was founded in response to hunger in Honduras in 1987. Incredibly, the organization shipped 284 million of its nutritionist-formulated meals last year. 284 million!
Each meal costs just 22 cents, so even a small donation can make a huge impact. Just $10.00 can provide 45 life saving meals.
The only way to get the herculean job done is to rely on the community packing events, such as the one that is being held at Villa Maria. Once the meals are packed, they are sent on ahead to various FMSC distribution centers, where they are readied to be shipped internationally, to sites that include orphanages, schools, and malnutrition clinics.
“I think it’s easier to forget about places that aren’t in front of us and countries that aren’t in front of us. I feel very lucky that I go to a school that also cares about this,” said Bianca Gullotti, a Villa junior set to volunteer for a third year in a row.
To date, FMSC world partners have already requested at least 10 million meals. That means that, while the 100K+ meals packed at the Villa Maria event is a big help, it will take numerous communities across the nation, conducting similar volunteer-driven events, to fulfill the ambitious goal.
Event: Feed My Starving Children: BuffaloMobilePack
April 14-15, 2018
Over 100,000 Meals
500 Volunteers Needed
To learn more about Feed My Starving Children, including volunteering and fundraising aspects, click here.
Want to volunteer? Volunteers work for 2 hours, and can be age 5 and up-making this the perfect family volunteer opportunity.
Want to help by making a donation? Each meal that is packed costs just 22 cents. No donation is too small. A $5.00 donation will provide a hot nutritious meal for 23 children! Click here to donate.
Want more information or want to volunteer? Email Kim Kotz at kkotz@villa.edu.
Villa Maria College | 240 Pine Ridge Road | Buffalo, NY 14225