WARSAW — This fall, Warsaw community members will work to feed thousands of starving children around the world by the 3rd annual Warsaw MobilePack event. Through a partnership with Feed My Starving Children, this large community service event is one of the many hunger relief efforts around the country led by the Feed My Starving Children organization.

FMSC, a Christian non-profit organization founded in 1987, tackles world hunger by sending volunteer-packed, nutritious meals to 70 countries where they are used to help feed children in the most need. Warsaw Community volunteers will prepare life-saving meals on Oct. 5-8, at the Gordon Rec Center on Grace College Campus. Warsaw volunteers will help produce MannaPack Rice, a scientifically formulated food that is culturally acceptable worldwide. Adults and children ages five and up will measure and scoop ingredients, seal bags and prepare boxes for shipping.

Nearly six million children under the age of 5 die each year of all causes, but nearly half are due to hunger.** From this data, FMSC estimates at least 6,200 children die each day from undernutrition. But the Warsaw community is helping to make an impact on these world hunger needs.

Over the past two years, community volunteers spent multiple days working two-hour meal-packing shifts for the Feed My Starving Children Warsaw MobilePack events. The combined efforts made a huge impact. In 2014, with the help of nearly 5,000 Warsaw community volunteers, including 3,000 Warsaw community school students, 1,003,104 life-saving meals were shipped to Uganda, Haiti and Honduras. This was enough to feed 2,784 critically hungry children a meal a day for an entire year. It proved to be one of the largest first time events in the history of FMSC behind large cities like Houston, Phoenix and Atlanta. In 2015, they topped those efforts by involving 5,500 volunteers to pack 1,065,312 meals that were shipped to Uganda, Mexico, Philippines, Guyana and Haiti.

David Wayne, event coordinator shared, “Once again, the combined efforts and generosity of our community helped to save the lives of 2,918 children who otherwise had no hope of being fed. Those who participated felt blessed by the opportunity to serve others in need as well as an increase in the sense of community by working hand in hand together on this important life-changing mission work in our own back yard.”

This event is made possible by the tremendous generosity and support of business sponsors, church contributions and individual donations. Each meal costs 22 cents to produce. The materials are paid for in advance by the support and financial donations of the community and then the community members work together to help pack the meals. FMSC partners with missionary groups and non-government agencies to ensure that the meals are then safely shipped and reach the children who need them most. The community goal has been 1 million meals. Those involved are hopeful to reach that goal, however many donations are still necessary to make this possible.

Scott Sterk, event coordinator stated, “We are so grateful to the many generous people who have great concern for the hungry. We could not accomplish this incredible goal without the support of the many donors and giving individuals who have concern for those in critical need. We hope to reach the 1 million meal mark again this year with the help of this great community. Our fundraising is significantly behind what we have raised in previous years so we desperately need the help and generosity of the community. Please consider stepping up to donate.”

Last week, the online registration opened to the public. In less than two hours, 2,500 volunteer shifts were quickly filled by those eager to participate again this year including families, schools, office groups, sports teams, youth groups and church groups. People of all ages and abilities will be joining the efforts to pack. However, many more volunteers would still like to participate. Many more donations are needed to pay for these ingredients to make this possible. All volunteers must be registered through warsawmbilepack.com. Additional volunteer spaces will be opened as fundraising goals are met. Please consider helping to impact the lives of others in need by being a hunger hero. No donation is too small. Each person packs approximately $50 worth of materials during the two-hour shift. Eighty dollars feeds a child for a year. Can you help be a part of something life-changing? Please consider making a donation to this great cause.

FMSC would appreciate your support.

Donations can be mailed to FMSC, PO Box 1802 Warsaw, IN 46581 or online donations can be made online. Click on “donate”.

Continue to check back to register to pack on the website. Additional spaces will be released as fundraising goals are met.

For more information, go to MobilePack’s wesbite or FMSCS’s website. Follow us on Facebook or contact [email protected].

**Source: “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2015,” UNICEF