After learning in Chapel that one in five children does not have enough food to eat, Lower School students packed over 10,000 meals, on Friday, October 19. The meals will be sent to hungry people all over the world.
Groups of students added soy protein, vegetables, and rice to each bag, while other students weighed them at packing stations in an efficient and fun assembly line. Students danced along to Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and the Jackson 5's "ABC" while they worked. A big gong rang every time the group packed another 1,000 meals.
"Look at how exciting this is," said Head of the Lower School, Dr. Terry Malone. "We are all having a great time today, learning team buildings and collaboration-real twentieth-century skills-while getting to see how small efforts, when put together, can really make a difference."
During Lower School Chapel, Chaplain Michelle Bullock explained to students about the first miracle where Jesus fed 5,000 people with just two fish and five loaves of bread that were offered by a young boy. That lesson was illustrated during Friday's volunteer effort; while each student might only make twenty meals, at the end of the day, the whole Lower School is helping to feed thousands.
"This day teaches our students that there are practical ways to help and that they don't have to wait until they are grown up to make an impact," said Chaplain Bullock. "And we are so grateful that this year the EAPA volunteered in huge numbers. It is so wonderful for our students to see their parents helping feed the hungry, and see that service can be a family affair!"
The 10,000 prepared meals will go to Rise Against Hunger's regional warehouse, where they will be combined with 275,000 other meals that have been packed by other schools, churches, and business groups throughout the region, and packed on a container ship. Recent destinations for the meals have been Zambia, El Salvador, and Swaziland.
"The very next person to touch this meal, after the students who packed it, is the person who will eat it," said Megan Davis, from Rise Against Hunger. "I hope today, these kids learn that a lot of things seem hard to conquer, or even impossible at first, but when we come together, we can do something great."
For the last several years, EA has partnered with Rise Against Hunger, an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to people in developing nations.
