St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Volunteers Reach 50,000-Meal Packing Goal for Kids Against Hunger Florida

St. Armands Key Lutheran Church held a food packing event on Saturday to support Kids Against Hunger Florida. Community volunteers have gathered every fall for the past five years to assemble tens of thousands of meals for local families and emergency rations abroad. This year organizers set an ambitious goal of packing 50,000 meals in a few hours, more than double last year’s amount. Portioned for children’s serving sizes, that would come to 100,000 meals.

At least 100 volunteers filled both Fellowship Hall and the sanctuary, working in assembly-line teams. The first workers on the line filled pouches with vegetarian-based protein, rice, vegetables and vitamins, and their teammates sealed, flattened and packed the meals into boxes. The volunteers surpassed their goal.

Todd Clevenger, founder and executive director of the nonprofit, said each packet could feed a family of six and has a three-year shelf life. Local recipients included Englewood’s Helping Hand; Sarasota’s Second Chance Last Opportunity, Harvest House and Schoolhouse Link; and Bradenton’s Feeding Empty Little Tummies.

Gayle Galloway, chair of the Community Service Ministry, said some people may be surprised at how great the need for nutritious meals is in the Sarasota area. Meals from the event were also earmarked for Haiti, where many families continue to contend with violence related to gang activity and political fallout. Galloway recalled that after the last food shipment to Haiti, the pastor who runs an orphanage and a school contacted her. “He said, ‘You have perfect timing, because we had nothing to feed our kids today. That fed them for a year.'”

Pastor Ken Blyth told volunteers at the kickoff in the courtyard that he was pleased to see so many people willing to contribute their time and abilities. He offered a special thank you to residents helping in memory of Jeff Heath. Blyth’s wife, Karen, said it meant everything to look around and see so many people in her support network joining the effort that morning.

Many volunteers agreed with Karen, saying they found the work both fun and rewarding once they got into the groove. Giving a Saturday morning to feed families they may never meet is a way of showing care for the hungry (Matthew 25:35).

When asked what it meant to see the community turn out in such force, Clevenger said, “That’s why I do it. It’s awesome to see.”

Source: Read the original report