A day of service

This morning I had the privilege of accompanying the jr. high youth group from our church to a service project. When I was getting ready to leave the house at 8:15 this morning, the thermometer in the kitchen read -4 degrees outside. BUT, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so it was great to venture out. I met them at a large warehouse in Naperville to participate in Feed My Starving Children. This is an amazing ministry. Please click the link to learn more and see how you might be able to help.

There were 23 volunteers from our church. We were briefed on our duties and watched a short video explaining where these meals were going and what it meant to the children who receive them.

We were set up in assembly line fashion. I was working with 3 jr. high boys on my line. One boy scooped out the "chicken" which was a powdery mixture of chicken flavoring mixed with 20 vitamins and minerals, then a scoop of dehydrated veggies, then the next boy scooped in a mug of soy and a mug of rice. Myself and another boy alternated holding a small plastic bag under the funnel and catching the mixture. Once we had it in our bag, we weighed it on a small scale and either added or subtracted rice to make it between 380 to 400 grams. Then it was passed on to another adult who was responsible for sealing the bag and placing it with the boxer.

We worked for about 2 hours and prepared 25 boxes of mixture. This will feed 15 children for ONE FULL YEAR. When we were done, the staff of FMSC prepared a batch of the mixture for us. I didn't have any, however, I heard it was very good and tasted like Rice-A-Roni.

I was amazed at how diligent these young people worked. They were nice, polite and pleasant. Many of them didn't want to leave when our time was up. And neither did I.

Cathi