When they’re not busy teaching, these good looking civic-minded ladies can often be found volunteering their time to help with worthwhile projects. (L-R) Shelby Anderson, Cindy Muus, Lorelei Livingston, Dena Schliep, Joan Ege, Barb Coe, Kaye Tavernier and Dorie Carlson.
Every day 15,000 children wither and die of starvation. Does it have to be this way? Last summer a group of Cook County teenagers associated with local churches traveled to Coon Rapids and volunteered their time helping a group called Feed My Starving Children. What came out of that trip was remarkable. The kids decided to do the impossible by raising $20,000 in a declining economy and then recruit 500 volunteers to work on a Saturday. A Saturday the week after the fishing opener! Would any of this work out? Or would a group of naïve teens look foolish for even trying? They had to give it a go, though. There was something about going to bed with your belly full when you know that every day 15,000 kids perish from a lack of nourishment. Better to look foolish failing than not trying at all.
And so it began.
They came from the West End. They came from the East End. They came from the top of the Gunflint Trail and they came from all points in between to volunteer to help feed children in desperate need half a world away.
All age groups turned out to help with the Feed My Starving Children project that took place last Saturday in the Community Center in Grand Marais. Here, Sarissa Falk on the left and Ailee Larson, third to the right, join two teens from Two Harbors that came to help.
More than a tenth of Cook County’s population put away their garden tools, set aside their chores and put away their fishing poles on Saturday, May 21 to volunteer to pack boxes of food that will feed 293 children every day for a whole year.
All told, 503 volunteers ages 4 to 84 packed 500 boxes containing 108,000 meals. They worked hard, they worked fast, and underneath their hairnets there was nothing but smiles and laughter.
Four groups of people, each working two-hour shifts, watched a short video, got instructions and carefully cupped and scooped ingredients into plastic bags, weighed and sealed them, then filled as many boxes as fast as they could.
Each packet contained rice, proteins and vitamins, filled with enough nutrition to not only halt starvation, but designed to give children the energy and strength to grow and thrive.
Chuck Soderholm and Mary McElevey filled plastic bags with the powdered food that will not only feed starving kids, but also will nourish them and help them grow strong and healthy.
The event took place at the Community Center in Grand Marais and lasted all day.
This was a culmination of work that began nine months ago by the combined Christian Youth Groups of Cook County. The kids conducted a halfdozen fundraisers and raised more than $20,000 to bring a semi-trailer full of bulk food up to Grand Marais to be packed.
But volunteers had to be found to do the work. So the kids, along with Evangelical Free Church youth leaders Caleb and Kari White, volunteer assistants Jamie Ryan, Steve and Deb Veit, Jeremiah Harvey, and Aaron and Terri Sjogren, began the arduous task of recruiting people. After weeks of phone calls and oneon one talks the slots were filled and the truck was scheduled.
“We started contacting people in April and the last week we still had 150 slots to fill, but in the end it all worked out,” said Caleb.
In fact, the volunteers worked so well the third group had to slow down so the fourth group would have some boxes to fill. Then, after the volunteers left, the kids swept and cleaned the facility, including washing and sanitizing the food-packing tools.
Deb and Steve Veit worked with the youth groups to plan the event and then took part in doing the actual work itself. Their smiles reflected those of most of the volunteers who helped with the Feed My Starving Children project.
The food will be shipped to one of many locations around the world where FMSC operates. “The next hands that will touch these boxes are the ones that will use the food inside,” said Rick, one of the assistants working for FMSC.
The single biggest donation came from Thrivent Financial, which gave $5,000. Local Thrivent agent Gary Zinter was on hand Saturday and was impressed by the turnout and work ethic of the volunteers.
“They were awesome,” Zinter said of the volunteers. “We at Thrivent Financial were pleased to help support this cause.”
Evangelical Free Church pastor Dave Harvey best summed up the day, “The news is full of reasons to be cynical and suspicious of our world and its prospects. But right here and right now, our kids led us to do something we can be proud of and joyful about. God knows it will make only a small dent in the suffering of this planet, but it will make all the difference for the kids who are fed those meals.
“Jesus said, ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures here on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…. for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’
“Last Saturday, many people invested in something much bigger than themselves or the American Dream. We all know that doing the right thing doesn’t always feel good. But judging from the music, the laughter, and the joyful bustle at the Community Center, it felt great to do what was righteous for a cause so great.”
Every day 15,000 children wither and die of starvation. Does it have to be this way? It was this question that haunted this band of lovable, scruffy teens. Their answer? On Saturday we heard it loud and clear.
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