The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
One organization close to home is literally saving lives, one child at a time.
Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), began in Coon Rapids, Minn. in 1987, and since then has worked with other non-governmental and mission organizations to bring mobile food packing events to communities around the region.
FargoPack, FMSC's partner, was started in 2013 by Atonement Lutheran Church of Fargo and now serves the Red River Valley and surrounding region. Every year since 2015 FargoPack has organized large mobile packing events in Fargo.
Now in its 10th year, FargoPack is gearing up to break records. They plan to pack 10 million meals in 10 days from January 5-15, 2024 at the Fargodome. This event, which is twice as large as anything they've ever done, will take $3.1 million and 55,000 volunteers to make it happen.
That's where the locals come in.
Trinity Lutheran Church of Carrington has taken the lead to coordinate area volunteers and raise funds to fill just one 2-hour shift at the massive packing event.
Last Monday, community leaders gathered at Trinity Lutheran to learn more about Feed My Starving Children and how they can help save lives.
The World Health Organization reports that 10,000 children die each day from extreme hunger. According to Amy Okeson, Executive Director of FargoPack for FMSC, that is an increase of 50 percent since the pandemic began, when 6,600 children around the world were lost per day.
A Christian nonprofit organization, the mission of FMSC is to feed children hungry in body and spirit, until all are fed.
Volunteers pack rice-based meals, which are distributed in over 100 countries around the world where extreme hunger exists.
Each meal costs 29 cents, and $106 will feed one child for a full year.
With its strong connection to area agriculture, Okeson said FMSC uses 10 million pounds of soybeans every year, produced by growers in the Midwest. In addition, they use 10 million pounds of U.S. grown rice per year.
FargoPack has packed more than 6 million meals throughout the past nine years, aided by 30,000 volunteers.
It's not just about feeding bodies either. In addition to meals, FMSC's mission partners create sustainable initiatives for the children and their families, from job creation and training, to education and housing.
For the volunteers, they get to experience the feeling of helping those in need.
"I've been able to put the food in their hands and see the joy on the parents' faces," Okeson said. She has delivered meals to the Dominican Republic and to Eswatini, Africa.
Michael Simon, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and volunteer for FMSC, said he's seen firsthand the impact the mobile packing events have.
"My family volunteered in Fargo. My kids felt that (impact), and it is a wonderful experience and feeling that you get when you volunteer, which is why I'm involved," Simon said. His family moved to Carrington from Fargo last year.
The packing event helps build empathy, compassion and student leadership among young volunteers as well, in essence feeding their spirits.
"They see that they can make a difference, and it opens their eyes to a broader world around them," Simon added.
Simon and other members of the local committee are organizing the community effort. They plan to fill a 2-hour slot at the FargoDome packing event in which volunteers from throughout central North Dakota can gather.
Volunteers will commute together and serve together. All area residents age 5 and older are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Each volunteer packs one box (approximately $63 worth of meals) in a 2-hour packing shift
That box will contain 216 meals. All totaled, the Fargodome event will feed 27,000 children for a full year.
The Fargo packing event is meant to be a springboard. According to Ron Stensgard, fundraising chair for FargoPack, one of the goals is "helping to motivate people to host their own packing events."
One such community packing event will take place at the Benson County Events Center in Maddock Nov. 16-18. Volunteers are currently raising the $30,0000 needed to pack 100,000 meals. Stensgard said they had already raised $17,000 as of Monday. Registration for the Maddock packing event opened Sunday, Oct. 1.
Click here to volunteer for the Maddock Mobile Pack: https://www.fmsc.org/volunteer-listing/?mobilepack=2311-028EA
Volunteer registration for the FargoDome packing event will open Oct. 8. A unique registration link will open that day, and individuals who wish to volunteer can sign up for the shift.
Readers will be able to find the registration links for both events on the Foster County Independent website, http://www.fosterconews.com.
For more details in the meantime, go to fargopack.org
