We all had our hair done in preparation for our trip.
We were all packed in record time. Then again, a trip to the Caribbean usually doesn’t require much by way of clothing. Truth be told, clothing had very little to do with the two hours we devoted last Saturday to packing.
We (me, Jimmy, granddaughter Grace and grandson Grant) never actually made it to the Caribbean. But the 22,896 meals we helped pack last weekend are headed to Haiti; or maybe Sierra Leone, Cambodia, India, Lesotho, Tanzania, Sri Lanka or any one of more than 70 countries served by the non-profit organization, Feed My Starving Children.
Haiti just happened to be the country our ten-man team, or rather 10-man-woman-and-child-team of volunteers represented during our two hours of philanthropy dedicated “to feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit.”
Haiti just happened to be the country our ten-man team, or rather 10-man-woman-and-child-team of volunteers represented during our two hours of philanthropy dedicated “to feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit.”
Add 6 cups of boiling water, stir, simmer for 20 minutes & voila! Dinner for the family.
All told, there were 8 teams packing that afternoon. Each MannaPack filled required a scoop of vitamin and mineral vegetarian chicken flavoring followed by a scoop of dried vegetables, a cupful of soy powder and a cupful of dried rice. Once filled, each MannaPack was weighed (bag and contents had to weigh between 380 and 400 grams), adjusted accordingly when necessary, and then sent on to be sealed before being boxed for shipping, 36 MannaPacks to a box.
The energy in the room that afternoon was palpable, the music as loud as the occasional cheers that ripped through the mechanics of so much motion as each team worked like a fine-tuned machine scooping, pouring, weighing, adjusting, sealing, stacking, packing and then labeling hundreds and hundreds of MannaPacks.
Time was precious considering two and a half million Haitians live in extreme poverty; one-hundred thousand Haitian children under five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition; one-third of Haitian women and children are anemic. Did you know Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere, one of the poorest countries in the world?
I know if I’m going to travel this world it behooves me to help make the world a better place. No place better to start than Feed My Starving Children.
The energy in the room that afternoon was palpable, the music as loud as the occasional cheers that ripped through the mechanics of so much motion as each team worked like a fine-tuned machine scooping, pouring, weighing, adjusting, sealing, stacking, packing and then labeling hundreds and hundreds of MannaPacks.
Time was precious considering two and a half million Haitians live in extreme poverty; one-hundred thousand Haitian children under five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition; one-third of Haitian women and children are anemic. Did you know Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere, one of the poorest countries in the world?
I know if I’m going to travel this world it behooves me to help make the world a better place. No place better to start than Feed My Starving Children.
Each MannaPack costs 22 cents to produce thanks to volunteers with a willing heart and hands.
When it was all said and done, we got a chance to see the fruits of our labor; 106 boxes were stacked in the adjoining warehouse, the first pallet in the bunch wrapped and ready to ship. We’d filled those boxes in the allotted two hours with 3,816 MannaPacks capable of providing 22,896 meals, enough meals to feed 63 children for an entire year. WOW!
Margaret Mead was right! Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.
We closed with a prayer at the end of our 2-hour shift, gathering round to lay hands on the boxes of meals now stacked in the warehouse awaiting shipment. Who knows, maybe one day I'll actually make it to Haiti alongside those boxes as a volunteer once again for Feed My Starving Children.
For now, I'm content to remain behind the scenes, reminiscing on one of the best trips I never took!
Margaret Mead was right! Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.
We closed with a prayer at the end of our 2-hour shift, gathering round to lay hands on the boxes of meals now stacked in the warehouse awaiting shipment. Who knows, maybe one day I'll actually make it to Haiti alongside those boxes as a volunteer once again for Feed My Starving Children.
For now, I'm content to remain behind the scenes, reminiscing on one of the best trips I never took!
 I did go home with a souvenir even though I personally didn't make it to the Caribbean. |  Simplicity is really just a matter of focus. |
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