The quote, “If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one,” attributed to Mother Teresa, emphasizes that everything we do makes an impact. Giving a helping hand to a single person holds the same value as helping many. On Tuesday, November 26th, third graders at HBRES gave a helping hand by packing food for children in need by volunteering their time at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora, IL. This non-profit organization is dedicated to packing and shipping meals for children in developing countries, ensuring they receive essential nutrients for healthy growth. This act of service has become a cherished tradition for third graders during November when we focus on being grateful in our lives by appreciating the people and things we have. We can show gratitude for what we have by giving back to others in our local and global community. Actively contributing to society is one of our core values in the HBR school district, and this volunteering opportunity allowed us to embody that spirit. During our time there, we packed meals that would be sent overseas to El Salvador located in South America. On that day, we packed 135 boxes, totaling 29,160 meals, enough to provide daily meals for 80 children for an entire year! We eagerly anticipate an email in the upcoming months confirming the successful delivery of the food we packed. Read below to learn how our third graders felt about their act of service. We are so proud of the impact they made!
Lydia Petritsch
Going to Feed My Starving Children was so fun. I had a great time! I definitely recommend it and I would absolutely do it again! The job I had was packing the meals into the boxes. It was so much fun! We packed 135 boxes! That's 29,160 meals! That feeds a daily meal for an entire year for 80 kids! It was so amazing to help kids who need food. It made me feel really good, and I'm very happy that the 80 kids will get a daily meal for a year.
Nora Bowman
It was AMAZING!!! My job was to hold the bag up to the funnel. It felt really good to volunteer. I made sure other kids did not get sick because I did not put my germy fingers in the bags. All of us made in total 135 boxes, which means 29,160 meals were packed, and that feeds a daily meal for an entire year for 80 kids. I would LOVE to do it again. I would love for other people to try it and have fun!!! It was so fun but it was challenging but that’s the fun part!!! I tried a free sample, and it was AMAZING!!!!! It’s so hard to explain my experience because it was so good! The FMSC trip was amazing, cool, good, wonderful, and all of that. I wish I could have it every year!!! This trip has been my favorite EVER.
Riley Hornick
As a volunteer, it was AMAZING because we got to help 80 kids for a year!!! We did a LOT of packing- and I mean a LOT of packing! The first job is the food. The food job is where you have four different food choices. One is powder, the other one is vitamins, then a little more vitamins to keep the kids nice and healthy. Then there is rice. The rice has the biggest cup because the kids need a lot of rice. After the food scooping, we had to get a lot of bags. We had to rub the bags together and then slide them open. You can’t put your hands in the bags. How I did it was first the powder, then the vitamins, and then more vitamins. After that, the rice. The people who receive the filled bags put the bags in a white container. Then the people who get the bags have a job where they put the bags on a scale and it has to be between 375- 395 grams. After you weigh them, you get to start packing. First you have to stamp the boxes but the adults handle the stamping so we don't get hurt. Then there is one last job- the packing job. The packing job is where you get the bags from the parents\ chaperones. You have to shake the bags so the food is settled flat. After you shake the bags you have to lay two bags on each black spot- that is 32 bags on each spot. Lastly, you tell your team to yell and then we did! That would be 1 box done for those in need. I would do it again!! Working at Feed My Starving Children was a blast!! I would absolutely love to go to Feed My Starving Children again!
Lydia Petritsch, Nora Bowman, & Riley Hornick
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By: Lydia Petritsch, Nora Bowman, & Riley Hornick
Hinckley-Big Rock Elementary