The Shadow
Some local churches are once again working together to help alleviate world hunger.
Representatives from 14 churches began working this morning on some 40,000 food packets that will be distributed in counties where there is a great need for food.
The packets are being prepared at Christ United Methodist Church in Covington. In all, approximately 180 volunteers from local churches are involved in helping prepare the packets. The churches raised $9,835 to fund the project.
The packets will be distributed by Stop Hunger Now, a Raleigh, N.C.-based organization that ships food and other life-saving aid to needy people in more than 60 countries.
Much of the food packed in Covington is expected to go to Haiti, which is still reeling from a massive earthquake that occurred Jan. 12.
Stop Hunger Now partners with Haiti Outreach Ministries, located in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. According to the United Nations World Hunger Programme, 76 percent of Hatians were living below the poverty line prior to the Jan. 12 earthquake. Furthermore, the U.N. said that 56 percent of Hatians live on less that $1 per day.
The UN predicted that world hunger would reach a historic high in 2009 with 1.02 billion people experiencing hunger every day. The UN blamed the increase in hunger on the world economic crisis that brought lower incomes and higher unemployment. The UN said hunger now affects one in six people worlwide.
In a news release issued last June, Jacqu Diof, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Outreach Organization of the United Nations, said “a dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices has pushed some 100 million more people than [2008] into chronic hunger and poverty.”
Packets of food prepared at Christ United Methodist will be taken to a warehouse in Lynchburg and stored until distributed.
The ingredients and overhead expenses for packing the food costs approximately 25 cents per serving, excluding shipping. The packets consists of dehydrated, fortified rice-soy meals containing more than 20 vitamins and minerals specially formulated for malnourished individuals.
The meals will be vacuum sealed, enabling Stop Hunger Now to store them in warehouses for up to five years. Once the meals reach their destination, they are prepared using boiling water. The boiling water helps ensure that the recipeints will receive a hot meal and it also purifies the water, which may be contaminated in many countries.
The local volunteers began preparing the meals at 10:30 this morning at Christ United Methodist Church. A group of 20 volunteers can package about 5,000 meals in two hours.
Work for packaging day was ongoing throughout the week, as Christ United Methodist had to clear its parking areas of snow and ice. First Christian Church assisted today’s effort by allowing its property to be used for overflow parking.
Dot Burks, secretary at Christ United Methodist, said fundraising for this year’s effort far exceeded organizers’ expectations. Last year, participating churches raised approximately $6,000 and prepared 24,000 food packets.
Churches participating in this year’s Stop Hunger Now campaign are: Central United Methodist in Clifton Forge, Epworth United Methodist in Selma, Fletcher Chapel United Methodist, Granbery Memorial United Methodist, Lone Star Baptist, Mount Carmel United Methodist, Mount Pleasant United Methodist, Parrish Court United Methodist, South Covington United Methodist, Benjamin Persinger Memorial Chapel United Methodist, Humphrey’s United Methodist and Pinnell Chapel United Methodist.
