Each year, at least 62,000 children die from hunger-related causes, according to UNICEF. Thanks to Feed My Starving Children’s Mobile Pack event, this number is decreasing steadily. Since 2014, Rosas’ Mexican Kitchen has taken the initiative to host a Mobile Pack event at Ouachita, and the program has generated quite the success.
The purpose of this event is to create meals for starving children, but these meals are not simply thrown together to fulfill a child’s hunger. MannaPacks contain rice, widely accepted all over the world; soy nuggets, providing maximum protein; vitamins, giving children the nutrition needed; and dehydrated vegetables, adding flavor to the meal. Scientists are continuously monitoring what goes into a MannaPack to make sure the children are getting the proper nutrition. These packs are equipped to feed six children and only cost $1.32 per pack.
Since Feed My Starving Children is a Christian organization, the name used for the food packs was derived after much thought. Manna is the term used in the Bible to describe the food that is provided to the Israelites during their escape from Egypt.
“I volunteered for mobile pack because I knew the benefits of our work would be a blessing to many people,” said volunteer Titus Brooks, a junior at Ouachita. “World hunger is a problem that is hard to completely do away with, but the efforts of the Mobile Pack is one step closer to ending the starvation of those around the world.”
The Mobile Pack program held at Ouachita has seen extraordinary success thanks to its volunteers who have flooded in to help with the project. Volunteers put together 210,000 packs at Ouachita in 2014 alone through two Mobile Packs held in March and November. In 2015, Rosas Mexican Kitchen decided to dedicate the year to preparation for the Mobile Pack, scheduled for 2016.
“During our last Mobile Pack, we finished 111,000 meals with numerous volunteers. We reached our goal of 100,000 meals and fed 238 children in Honduras for a year,” said ENACTUS member Griffin Peeples, a Mobile Pack volunteer.
Numerous volunteers for the Rosas Mexican Kitchen Mobile Pack add to the 900,000 total volunteers that help Feed My Starving Children across the world. In 2004, the first Mobile Pack was held in Kansas City and consisted of 300 students. The program has seen substantial growth in the past 12 years.
Volunteers are not limited to Ouachita students. Henderson students and members of the Arkadelphia community are also welcome to join in the fight against hunger. Not only does this program bring people from different areas of the community together, but this particular Mobile Pack event also provides a unique and competitive atmosphere to make the charitable event even more exciting.
”Volunteers are divided into teams and have a hype time while they are packing these MannaPacks, competing against other teams,” Peeples explained.
Mobile Pack will be held in the Tiger Den on March 4-5. To volunteer, simply go to FMSC.org, find Mobile Pack events and look for Rosas Mexican Kitchen MobilePack. Once you locate this page, click “Volunteer To Pack” and continue the simple and easy process. Volunteer times are broken up into short two- hour shifts throughout the day. This short commitment can be beneficial for not only the children, but the volunteer as well.
“It’s great to help out and I’ll encourage anyone to give an hour or so to volunteer and pack meals to feed hundreds of people,” Brooks said.
Elva Rosas, a senior at Ouachita is the Enactus Mobile Pack project leader. She commends the volunteers’ dedication to this program, but stresses that the success is due to a higher power.
“We could not have done any of it without prayer and God’s favor,” Rosas said.
There are numerous ways to aid Feed My Starving Children. Not only can you volunteer for Mobile Pack, but Chicken Express and Rosa’s Mexican Kitchen are donating profits from each meal to reach the fundraising goal of $22,000. On Feb. 25, a portion of your Chicken Express purchase will be donated to the program, and Rosa’s Mexican Kitchen has been donating 22 cents from each meal purchased at its location.
Those wishing to volunteer are welcome to contact Rosa’s or ENACTUS for more information.
