Feeding the Children Project Provides 10,000 Servings

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Volunteers fill bags of dehydrated soup at First Church on October 23. In the first station, counter-clockwise from right front: Katie Uzdarwin dumping lentils, Paige Remington about to add the salt, Abigail Schulz (only her arm showing) scooping vegetables, Mary McKenna waiting to remove the bag, and Kristen Uzdarwin scooping rice. At far right behind Katie, Ann Selvitelli returns with more bags.

Photo by Lester Smith

Volunteers fill bags of dehydrated soup at First Church on October 23. In the first station, counter-clockwise from right front: Katie Uzdarwin dumping lentils, Paige Remington about to add the salt, Abigail Schulz (only her arm showing) scooping vegetables, Mary McKenna waiting to remove the bag, and Kristen Uzdarwin scooping rice. At far right behind Katie, Ann Selvitelli returns with more bags.

In support of a charity called Feeding Children Everywhere, about 50 parishioners of Suffield’s First Church stayed after Sunday Service on October 23 and gathered in Fellowship Hall to become volunteer assembly line workers. In an efficient system, they produced and packed plastic bags of dehydrated lentil soup – nutritious, if not exactly elegant cuisine.

The loading station that began each of four assembly lines had six workers: two who attached the bags under the loading funnels and removed them when they were loaded and four who scooped up and delivered lentil, rice, a mix of dried vegetables, and salt in careful sequence, using custom-sized scoops. The next station had two quality controllers, who added or subtracted a bit of mix if necessary to reach a weight between 320 and 330 grams. Next in line were two heat sealers, then finally two boxers: 48 six-meal bags per box, weighing 37 pounds. In about an hour, the four lines had filled enough boxes to provide 10,000 servings. A few small kids, not big enough for the production lines, busied themselves writing love notes on the boxes.

The well-planned operation was set up and taught by two young, dedicated workers from the parent organization, whose headquarters are in Orlando, Fla. They filled their van and headed off to the local warehouse, from which the boxes are distributed to provide meals to hungry children and families throughout the world.

The local hosts for these projects also try to raise $2,500 to pay for the dried constituents. That comes to 25¢ per serving.

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