GREENFIELD — Wide columns of stacked cardboard boxes were lined up in the middle of the gym, taller than many of the people clustered around them, a palm outstretched to touch a box.
Having spent a couple of hours packing tens of thousands of meals, dozens of volunteers now prayed for the people who will eat them.
Hundreds of people volunteered Nov. 11-12 at Park Chapel Christian Church to pack meals to send to Haiti through Lifeline Christian Mission. They worked in three shifts — Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon — packing 142,500 meals.
“I like that we can serve with our kids and that we’re serving a lot of families,” Becki Maurer said.
She scooped dried vegetables into a funnel. Beside her, daughter Jada scooped rice. Across the table, young volunteers added a scoop of protein powder and a scoop of soy.
All the ingredients pass through the funnel and into a plastic bag, which is then weighed and sealed. Each bag contains six meals. Each meal, according to Lifeline’s website, contains 75 percent of the nutrients a child should consume daily for a healthy diet.
“I think that this is really fun because it’s just a bunch of people in the community coming together to help those in need,” Jada Maurer said.
A row of tables over from the Maurers, Shaun McConnell was holding a bag under the funnel at his team’s table. He worked alongside his wife, Emily, and their children, Brooklyn and Nolan.
“We rotated (tasks) to keep it interesting,” he said. “I was the funnel guy most of the time.
He said it was important to him to come that Friday evening as a family to serve together.
“Just a short amount of time that we donate our time can feed thousands of people …,” he said. “This is stuff we should be doing more.”
MEAL PACKING
On Nov. 11-12, volunteers at Park Chapel Christian Church gathered to pack 142,500 meals to send to Haiti through Lifeline Christian Mission.
On Oct. 1, volunteers at Mt. Comfort Church packed more than 80,000 meals for Ukrainian refugees through Pack Away Hunger. Amity United Methodist Church, Gateway Community Church of Fortville, New Palestine United Methodist Church and Shirley-Wilkinson Community United Methodist Church also provided funds and/or volunteers for that event. Eastern Hancock High School football players helped pack meals too.
Lifeline Christian Mission (lifeline.org) and Pack Away Hunger (packawayhunger.org) each share online about how to join or start a meal packing event through their organization. Being part of a meal packing event includes not only volunteering, but also gathering enough donations to pay for materials and shipping for each meal. The cost is about 30 cents a meal; thousands of meals are packed at these events.
Lifeline Christian Mission has packing events at several regional Lifeline Centres. It plans to open an Indianapolis center in Plainfield; email [email protected] to learn more.
Pack Away Hunger’s headquarters is in Beech Grove.
