Tis the Season to Give: Volunteers Age 5 & Up

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Attention parents!  If you have ever considered having your kids do some volunteer work then listen up. Recently I had the opportunity to volunteer with a large group at the Feed My Starving Children facility in Mesa.  I am in awe of this organization.  They have such an incredible system going and it is all run off of donations and help from volunteers.

Here’s the scoop:

You sign up to volunteer on their website.  You then show up at the facility on the day you chose.  The lovely people of FMSC will give you and your group a beautiful hair net and then do a short presentation explaining what they do and who they feed.  You gather around your table and begin packing bags of food in assembly fashion.  You listen to upbeat music, maybe even dance a little and then you look around and soak it all in.  The energy in the room is off the charts!  You can’t help but feel good when do good for others.

 

How does the organization work:

The food that is packed is designed to meet the needs of severely malnourished children all around the world.  In the hour of packing that our group did, we were able to pack enough food to feed 109 children for an ENTIRE year!  That’s pretty amazing.  The food is boxed up and shipped out on crates.  The children who receive this food are starving and malnourished to the point of not being able to walk, grow or talk.  In just months of being on this program these children’s lives begin to transform for the better.  They become healthier, are able to smile and start learning.  It’s heartwarming to see the transformation!  It’s hard to keep a dry eye when watching the video of how this program helps these children.

Some great stats:

  • 92% of the annual donations received are spent directly on feeding
  • FMSC has reached over 70 countries
  • Price per meal is 22 cents and that has not increased in 4 years
  • FMSC has earned the highest 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for 10 consecutive years (that puts them in the top 1% of over 8,000 nationally rated charities for integrity and trustworthiness).
  • In 2014 over 900,000 volunteers packaged 229,000,000 meals for children around the world

This is such a great learning opportunity for you and your entire family.  Children age 5 and up are encouraged to volunteer.  Over half of the volunteers at FMSC are under the age of 18.  This would be an amazing thing to do with your kids over Christmas break, Spring break and Summer break when they are not in school.  They also package food in the evenings so you can take your children at that time as well.

Go to www.FMSC.org to learn more.  Unable to volunteer?  Find other ways to donate to this cause on their website.

 

“Turn Hunger into Hope with Your Own Two Hands”

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