Churches join to help kids fight hunger
Monday, 29 June 2009
By KRISTA HAYES Staff Writer
Three local and area churches joined forces Saturday morning in an effort to help children in Auglaize County as well as throughout the world fight hunger.For the second year, First English, St. Mark’s, and Trinity Lutheran churches held a Kids Against Hunger event, during which between 75 to 80 volunteers of all ages stationed in an assembly line in First English Lutheran Church’s Fellowship Hall spent hours packaging meals for children in need.
Through fundraisers held throughout the year, organizer and First English Lutheran Church member Connie Krites said the churches and its members managed to raise $2,800 to pay for packaging and meal ingredients for more than 60,000 meals. The 13.8 ounce packages consist of soy, veggies, chicken and rice. “Last year, the project was such a success and such a neat outreach ministry, that I knew we had to get involved again this year, so we invited Trinity in Moulton and St. Marks to join us,” Krites said.
The meals provide a day’s worth of vitamins and minerals, Krites said, meeting all nutritional requirements of malnourished children for physical growth and mental development. The meals also are capable of reversing the starvation process and restoring a child’s health and mental alertness. The food also is acceptable to the broad diversity of ethnic tastes and religious differences around the world.
According to the Feeding Children International Kids Against Hunger Web site, 12 children die of starvation and malnutrition every minute. Kids Against Hunger Great Lakes Coalition Executive Director Mike Burwell said that the organization’s mission is to end that startling statistic by packing and shipping life-saving meals to children in developing countries as well as the United States — 37 countries in total. “The Kids Against Hunger Coalition is a non-profit, 501.c3 humanitarian group organization dedicated to providing nutritional food to malnourished and starving children throughout the world,” Burwell said. “Since its 30 years in existence, the international coalition has distributed approximately 100 million meals to starving children in the U.S. and all over the world, while the Great Lakes coalition has shipped four million.”
On behalf of his father, Dr. Donald Burwell, who started the Kids Against Hunger Great Lakes Coalition 11 years ago, Burwell made a formal presentation of food to Auglaize County food pantries Agape, God’s Storehouse and Mercy Unlimited. The food banks received 30 percent of what volunteers packed during the event to help support people and children in the Wapakoneta community.
“Everything is very much appreciated,” Mercy Unlimited Manager Glenna Bair said. “Rice and grains can always be used and what’s so great is that you can put other foods with it to complete a meal, such as canned chicken. “Last year we received 12 boxes from Kids Against Hunger, which went to feed starving children and families in Auglaize County,” she said, “so every little bit we can get helps tremendously.
”St. Marys’ Agape Director Kathy Bayless said receiving the packaged meals was a blessing. “The whole Kids Against Hunger project is so amazing,” Bayless said. “It’s what it’s all about — giving back to the community while helping those less fortunate and in need.
”Joining them again this year was Wapakoneta McDonalds Public Relations Manager Bonnie Berry and Ronald McDonald. They volunteered their time to package meals, but also provided sandwiches and fries for lunch for workers. Wapakoneta Mayor Rodney Metz devoted part of his time to help seal packaged meal bags for those in need in Auglaize County. “It’s absolutely wonderful to see the community doing something good to help out not only starving children and families in their own community, but worldwide as well,” Metz said. “This is my second year participating in the event, and it just goes to show you how much the Wapakoneta community really cares about other communities.”
Sporting a hair net, plastic gloves and an apron, Krites’ granddaughter, Holly Krites, celebrated her 10th birthday by helping at the event. “She was so excited about being able to help poor people by participating in the project and felt honored to be able to do so on her birthday,” Connie Krites said. Krites added that Holly attends Delphos St. Johns School where they instill in their kids the importance of helping the poor and sick, so when she told her about the project, she jumped at the chance to take part and help others less fortunate. “I can’t think of any place I would want to be to celebrate my birthday except here, helping to feed starving children out there who are my age,” Holly said.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 30 June 2009 )
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Kids Against Hunger Great Lakes Coalition has packaged 5,132,592 meals since the fall of 2004. 1,846,152 of these were packaged in 2009. This year, 2010, KAHC volunteers have packaged 856,872 meals. Since 2004 over 43,028 volunteers have participated in KAHC packaging. KAHC has shipped over 1,000,000 meals to Haiti, through The United States Navy, Coast Guard, and other humanitarian groups. KAHC has shipped over 14,692 meals to the Dominican Republic, over 648,000 meals to Guatemala, and 108,000 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana as part of Hurricane Katrina relief effort. KAHC has sent 50,000 meals to Ghana, and 405,120 to Kenya Africa. KAHC has also shipped 200,000 meals to the following countries: Panama, Nicaragua, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Tobago, and French Guiana. We have shipped over 70,000 meals to Manila in the Philippine Islands. Finally KAHC has shipped over 1,655,528 meals to local community shelters & food depots in Michigan Indiana and Ohio through distribution channels like Our Lady of Fatima delivery systems.