February 15 - Feed My Starving Children

Over this last weekend, my niece and Sister-in-law took part in a Feed My Starving Children MobilePack event. When we saw them on Sunday, they had just completed their second shift packing life giving meals- they were so excited about the small part they played in making a difference to hungry children.  

Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit organization committed to feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals formulated specially for starving children, and Feed My Starving Children ships the meals to nearly 70 countries around the world.  In 2010, FMSC produced over 126 million meals thanks to the work of more than 520,000 volunteers.


Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) was founded in 1987 through the efforts of a Minnesota businessman who felt called by God to help feed the starving children of the world during a humanitarian visit to Honduras. He returned to the Twin Cities to develop a method of large-scale relief.   In 1989, FMSC connected with food scientists from Cargill and General Mills to develop a nutritional product especially for FMSC to feed starving children. This food product included rice, soy, vegetables, a vegetarian-based chicken flavoring, and a vitamin and mineral mix. Food scientists continue to update the formula.


In addition to creating this formula, FMSC sought to develop a cost-effective means of producing the meals in quantities that would make a real difference in alleviating world hunger. Initially, FMSC tested packaging machines, but this method proved to be expensive and cumbersome. In 1993, a church group stopped by the FMSC facility to pursue volunteer opportunities with FMSC. That providential meeting gave birth to FMSC’s volunteer-packing approach.


To distribute the packed meals, the FMSC team began establishing partnerships with major global distribution nonprofits and imbedded missionaries such as Salesian Missions, Love A Child, Cross International, Samaritans International, and World in Need. These partnerships allow FMSC to reach desperately needy children in remote parts of the world by leveraging the partner's in-country expertise.  This expertise allows the partner to help ensure that the orphanages, schools and facilities for disabled children are provided hot, nutritious meals—and a ray of hope for the future.


Feed My Starving Children MobilePack^TM events allow people across the United States to pack life-giving meals.  In 2009, more than 120,000 MobilePack volunteers produced more than 26 million meals during events in New York, Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota, Washington, Illinois, and dozens of other states.


Get Involved:

Donate to Feed My Starving Children.

Volunteer or donate to a Mobile Pack event in your area. 

Shop the online gift catalog.

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Source:  http://www.fmsc.org/

January 26 - Feeding the future of America

Hunger Doesn't Take the Weekends Off.



Blessings In a Backpack is a “neighbor-helping-neighbor” program that is designed to help meet the nutritional needs of children and families.  62% of children in America are on free or reduced meals at their schools. Blessings in a Backpack is designed to feed these kids on the weekends by sending them home on Fridays with backpacks filled with staples that require little to no preparation. $80 feeds one child for a school year.



Blessings in a Backpack is a results-oriented program. This unique program is designed to feed elementary school children whose families qualify for the federal free and reduced meal program, and may not have any or enough food on the weekends. Better test scores, improved reading skills, positive behavior, improved health and increased attendance have all been attributed to the success of this program.



$80 feeds a child in the program for an entire school year. Following a donation, a school is chosen and a local grocer partners with the program to provide food for meals in the backpacks. Every Friday, students receive their backpacks with staples that require little to no preparation. They return with their backpacks on Monday ready to learn.


The backpacks include ready-to-eat food items such as fruit roll ups, juice boxes, instant noodles, peanut butter, mac & cheese, cereal, pop tarts, etc. Blessings in a Backpack does its best to make sure the food is kid-friendly, meaning it’s lightweight, healthy, non-perishable and easy-to-prepare.  Students who participate in the Blessings in a Backpack program show marked improvement in school attendance, test scores, behavior, and health. Food is an essential building block, and in this case truly is a blessing, especially to a hungry child!



Blessings in a Backpack started with just one school in 2005 and now serves almost 27,000 students in 157 schools, spread throughout 27 U.S. states and two countries - Canada and Columbia.   Click here to find a Blessings in a Backpack program in your area. The program is a hybrid of private sector funding and public partnership carried out in public schools. We are feeding the future of America, one school at a time.
 

Become a weekday or weekend warrior in the battle against hunger.



Get Involved:

Donate to Blessings in a Backpack.

Adopt a school.  Adopting a school close to your community is fairly simple. The most important requirement is that you are a parent, teacher, administrator or community member that recognizes how important it is that all of our neighbors’ children have the same opportunities for daily nutrition, which positively impacts educational success!

Volunteer opportunities with Blessings in a Backpack.

Other ways to get involved.

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Source: http://blessingsinabackpack.org/

January 16 - Help Yourself while Helping Others!

How many of you made a New Year's Resolution to lose a few pounds?  How's that been going?  Did you know that you can lose those pounds and help others while you are doing it?   YES!  Okay,  I know it was only a few days ago that I was recommending that you buy your Frosty key tag to support Adoption charities and now today I am telling you to drop some pounds!  Sounding a little fickle, aren't I?  Oh well.. buy the key tag because it supports a good cause and try not to eat too many of the frostys. 


I know there are many people out there like me.  I have  been semi-dieting for the last several months and I have lost 21 pounds... which is a good thing... but now I have a new motivation.  I can help provide food to a local food bank by pledging to lose weight.  I have pledged to lose an additional 24 lbs. so that means I will secure 24 lbs of food for a food bank I designated in my area.  AWESOME!  


Last year, The Pound For Pound Challenge helped Feeding America® secure more than 6.2 million pounds of groceries on behalf of local food banks. The Pound For Pound Challenge is back for year three and with your participation, we hope it is even a greater success!



For every pound you pledge to lose through May 31, 2011, the Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 11¢ to Feeding America® – enough to secure one pound of groceries on behalf of a local food bank.  Did you know that hunger is a struggle for 1 in 6 Americans?
 
 
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, their network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms.
 
 
So, make a pledge to lose a few pounds and then follow through... you will be helping others and you will be helping yourself! 
 
 
 
Get Involved:
 
Pledge to lose pounds in the Pound for Pound Challenge.
 
Donate to Feeding America.  -  This is for you skinny folks out there who have no need to lose weight...you know who you are!   : )

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Source:  NBC  -  The Biggest Loser
               http://www.pfpchallenge.com/

November 8 - Make a difference this Thanksgiving...for $10.

THIS THANKSGIVING GIVE THANKSGIVING TO A FAMILY IN NEED FOR 10 BUCKS!

Earlier this year I highlighted Family-to-Family and their Birthday in a Box program!  Today I am highlighting them for a different reason...
You can help Family-to-Family provide Thanksgiving Turkeys to needy families this Thanksgiving! 


Family-to-Family wants to make Thanksgiving happen again this year for all of the families in our “extended family”.


Help us make this happen by making a $10 donation to purchase a turkey plus one side dish (e.g., potatoes or stuffing) for one recipient family. Or buy a "flock of turkeys" (you choose how many) to feed more than one family.


Family-to-Family is a not-for-profit hunger relief program aimed at helping profoundly poor American families.  Community based, F-to-F links families with "more" to families with much less. With no agenda other than helping fellow citizens, Family-to-Family taps into a vast reservoir of stored generosity.

“No act of kindness is too small. The gift of kindness may start as a small ripple that over time can turn into a tidal wave affecting the lives of many.” -- Kevin Heath    



 Let's start a TIDAL WAVE!! 




Get Involved: 

Buy a Turkey or a flock of turkeys for needy families.

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Resource:  Family to Family