Student Government Members Package Meals to Fight World Hunger

Emilie Jenson, Public Information Office
12/4/2023

The impact of a group of volunteers from Iowa Central will reach around the world in an effort to fight hunger.

Ten members of Iowa Central Student Government and their advisor joined more than 500 individuals from area schools, churches, businesses and community organizations to package meals at Community Christian School Saturday afternoon, December 2.

The mobile meal packaging event assisted Coon Rapids, Minn. based organization Feed My Starving Children with their efforts to eradicate hunger around the globe.

Prior to packaging meals, volunteers gathered in the school’s chapel for orientation and instruction and upon dismissal, went through a specific process of putting on hair nets and stopping at handwashing stations before entering the gym where an assembly line quickly formed.

Tables of volunteers worked together using funnels to fill “Manna Kits” with a vitamin powder, dehydrated vegetables, soy and rice. When reaching the end of the assembly line, bags were weighed, sealed, labeled and boxed. Each box of 36 bags was then placed on a cart and whisked away to the shipping station where they were then taken to a semitrailer waiting near the school. It was clear each time a full box was completed by the Iowa Central students as their cheer, “No fear, food is here” rang out through the gym.

“We let the students decide what they wanted to do, and they took charge,” said Student Government Advisor Jeff Halter. “They gathered the volunteers and set everything up to be here. It’s a great opportunity to use their own leadership.”

Iowa Central’s volunteers were organized by Jordan Peed, a sophomore member of Student Government, who had participated in the event in the past.

“I’ve helped out almost every year since this began,” said Peed. “Last year, we had Share What You Wear the same day, and since we were not doing that event this year, I thought this would be a great way for Student Senate to get some community service in.”

Freshman Tricia Westall also volunteered for a similar event with her church youth group in the past and was amazed with the impact it made and chose to come out Saturday.

“It’s cool to see that so many people care in our community,” said Westall. “I didn’t know how many people this can really reach.”

“It’s really amazing to see a community of people come together for a good cause,” said sophomore Danielle White.

“It is so neat to help other people,” said Peed. “I researched this, and it is amazing to see where the food goes and just how many people we can impact outside of our own community and around the world.”

Saturday’s event brought in around 500 volunteers in three shifts from 9-11 a.m., 12-2 p.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m., along with set-up and clean-up crews. The packaging yielded 108,000 meals- enough to feed 298 hungry children for a year.

In the past, meals packaged in Fort Dodge have been sent to North Korea, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, Zambia and El Salvador.