More than just Rice

The company I work for believes in giving back, and employees have several opportunities to get involved with different organizations throughout the year. Most recently, it was to help an organization called Feed My Starving Children, and I volunteered to participate.

The organization provides food for mal-nourished children in 70 countries costing only $0.22 a meal. The food packs, also know as manna, provide a hot meal the children wouldn’t have otherwise. The meals we packed were made of rice, soy protein, dried vegetables, vitamins, minerals and nutrients for growing children.

There were several stations around the room and each area represented a certain country; my group supported the Philippines. It gave us something to focus our efforts on and provided a purpose. There were ten to twelve people at every location and even though it wasn’t a real competition……it was a rivalry between the teams…..who could pack the most meals. Each team would yell a clever saying to get additional supplies, such as boxes and food. I was the heat-sealer and packer of my group; making sure to close the bag in just the right location, insert into the machine, press down and ……Wa-La…..thirty to a box.

This went on like clockwork for the next two hours, while lively music played. We laughed, sang, bellowed for supplies and bragged to the teams nearby, claiming to complete the highest number of boxes. At the end of the shift, we gathered together to bless the food and pray for its safe arrival.

As we paraded back into the initial gathering space, a presentation was displayed with the number of lives we would touch in the coming weeks. Seeing the efforts of our labor made it worth while. Everyone left with a humble heart, for it was much more than just rice…….it was for humanity.

xoxox…..Sheryl