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 As news of this event reached the media outlets, Lincolnite
Leslie Starasta was touched by the suffering in the tiny country and
felt compelled to do something to help.
"I was hearing about all this and thinking, 'What can we do?' The
first thought was, 'Write a check,' but I wanted to get more
involved. I went to the IDES website and found that they were just
starting to work with Kids Against Hunger on this food packaging
program," she said.
The International Disaster Emergency Service organization out of
Kempton, Ind., was well known to Starasta because of her church's
work with the Harvest of Talents, which contributes to the
organization.
Through the IDES website, she learned about the Kids Against
Hunger food packaging program and found that there was to be a
packing event taking place in Indiana that would directly affect
lives in Haiti.
Kids Against Hunger is a national organization out of Minnesota
that has worked for over 30 years to provide food supplies to
undernourished children throughout the world.
In recent years, the organization has come up with a breakthrough
product that provides all the daily nutritional requirements for a
child in one simple serving.
Seeking the help of a team of food scientists from Cargill,
General Mills, Archer Daniels Midland and Pillsbury, a formulation
was created using long white rice, soy protein, dehydrated
vegetables and a chicken-flavored nutritional supplement. The
product is packaged in airtight pouches and contains enough
ingredients for six child-size servings.
Starasta explained that because the food is shipped worldwide to
people of various ethnicities and religious beliefs, no animal
products used in the formulation.
She also brought this relief effort a little closer to home when
she commented on the involvement of Archer Daniels Midland in the
formulation.
"I find it particularly fascinating that they partnered with ADM
to create the crushed soy protein that is used," she said. "It is
quite possible the soybeans we grew here in Logan County and sent to
ADM for processing are being used in the Kids Against Hunger meals
that are packed throughout the United States in addition to Lincoln,
Ill."
Kids Against Hunger uses volunteers to mix the ingredients, fill
and seal the pouches, and pack them into cartons of 36 each. By
using volunteer labor, the cost of one food pouch is only about
$1.25. For the cash donor this means that more of the money being
given is going directly to those in need.
The Starasta family made the trip to Indiana and spent a day
working on food packaging. Starasta said it was a great day for her
family and a memorable one for her kids.
When they returned to Lincoln, she took the idea of doing a
packaging locally to the Harvest of Talents team at the Lincoln
Christian Church, where she is a member. The team agreed that it
would be a worthwhile project for the community, so Starasta set out
to get it all organized, and Saturday saw the culmination of her
efforts.
The event began at 9:45 Saturday morning when the first shift
arrived, prepared to pack food.
Ryan Chapman of IDES had driven from Indiana in a truck filled
with all the individual ingredients, packaging materials and
equipment that would be needed for the day, and he acted as the
overseer for the group activity.
The day was divided into one-hour shifts and volunteers were
asked to spend just that one hour of their day working, but several
stayed longer.
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The first shift of the day included students from Lincoln
Community High School, Lincoln College, Lincoln Christian University,
youth from Lincoln Christian Church and several adults who came with
their kids or were a part of the church.
Starasta said that others who had committed to coming and working
a shift later in the day included area Boy and Girl Scout troops and
several other groups as well.
Starasta said the packaging process does need some adult
participation, but it is also very kid-friendly.
The process involves putting a pouch on the bottom of a special
funnel, then measuring out the protein, flavoring, rice and
vegetables and dumping them into the pouch. It is then weighed and
rice is added to or taken away from the pouch until it comes to the
proper weight. It is then sealed with an electric food-saver type of
machine that melts the edges of the bags together to form an
airtight seal and is placed in a cardboard carton for shipping.
The protein, vitamin and mineral supplement needs to be measured
carefully, so adults and older youth take care of that, while the
dried vegetables and rice can be added by the younger ones because
less precision is required. Adults seal the bags, but the kids help
build the shipping cartons and then fill them with the finished
pouches.
As the first shift of the day came to an end, Chapman asked
everyone to gather for a group picture and then prayer. He then
offered a cooked sample of the product they had just packaged.
Gathered around the table of food, some commented that the dish
looked similar to a chicken and rice casserole, and those who took a
bite said it was quite tasty.
At the end of the day, Chapman's truck would be reloaded with the
finished product, taken back to Indiana, prepared for shipping and
sent off as soon as possible to Haiti.
Chapman said that the IDES and Kids Against Hunger organizations
have been blessed in Haiti as they have had no difficulty getting
the food product into the country.
When a natural disaster occurs, one of the biggest obstacles to
relief organizations in taking action is getting their offerings
past customs. Chapman noted that in Haiti even the United Nations
was turned away for a time.
IDES and Kids Against Hunger work directly with multiple
missionary teams in Haiti and have two docks in Port-au-Prince
reserved just for them, which means that what was done in Lincoln on
Saturday will soon have a positive effect on the children of Haiti.
Starasta had said the goal for the day was to produce 3,000
pouches, which would equate to 18,000 meals. At the end of the first
shift they were well on their way, as Chapman announced the first
hour had produced over 4,000 servings.
To learn more about IDES and Kids Against Hunger, visit the
websites below:
[By NILA SMITH]
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