UPCOMING SERVICE DAY DATES!
Come join us at Feed My Starving Children to pack meals for children around the world.
Ages 5 years and up (recommend 7+, but some 5’s can handle it) with an adult volunteer.
Click the link below and create an account. Then use the join code to sign up, so we can all work together.
Where it says, "Looking for a Specific Group?"
Add the Join Code listed in the event description.
Be part of Something Greater™
Join FMSC's new monthly giving community.
It's not the size of your gift that matters, it's our commitment, together. And together, we can end extreme hunger.
https://www.fmsc.org/
LOCATION: 1680 N. Glenville Dr., Suite 300, Richardson, TX 75081
My name is Laurie Dragon and in conjunction with COACH and April McMahon, we will be serving together at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC)
First, a bit about FMSC for anyone who is not familiar. FMSC is a Christian nonprofit organization that was founded in 1987 when businessman, Richard Proudfit, went on a mission trip to Honduras. He was called by God to "...feed my starving children." With the help of nutritionists and many other agencies, MannaPack meals were created to feed the hungry around the world.
What sets FMSC apart is that they will only take on new food aid requests if they can sustain them body and spirit to bring hope and break the cycle of poverty. They work with many agencies to fund, pack, transport, distribute, educate, and heal the whole child. You can read more on their website and watch videos if you are interested.
My children and I have been volunteering with FMSC for about eight
years. First at mobile packs around the Dallas area and then in 2018 at their permanent packing site in Richardson. Our group will be volunteering at their permanent site in Richardson at 1680 N Glenville Dr. Suite 300, Richardson, TX 75081.
We are asked to arrive 10-15 minutes before our session to sign in and get settled before watching a brief instructional video on how to do the various jobs and a bit about the agency. They just shortened the packing time by fifteen minutes so that they could add a fifth packing session each day. The time will fly!
If you are going to volunteer, they ask that you wear all long hair up and everyone wears a hair net. No jewelry is allowed so that it does not accidentally fall into ingredients or a MannaPack. I leave all mine at home, but they do have baggies to put them in and you can store them in your pocket or a locker. I do not bring in anything, but there are lockers if you need to store something. If you have any visible cuts on your hands, they will give you a special magnetic bandages to wear. Everyone wears gloves except for the sealers, boxers, warehouse staff, and labelers. Wear comfortable clothing and closed toe shoes are a must.
Volunteers must be 5 years and up, no exceptions. The jobs can be tough on a five year old who does not have an attention span or ability to
stay on task for an hour and follow rules and directions. So keep that in mind when signing 5-7 year olds up. The goal is to pack as many meals
as possible safely and efficiently.
They require the following adult to child ratio for school or church
groups:
Grades K-2: 1 student to 1 adult
Grades 3-6: 3 students to 1 adult
Grades 7-12: 4 students to 1 adult
We present a unique situation as homeschoolers with multi ages in one family. We can work this out by having families with older students take others in their group. For instance, I could take 1 more child in either of the first two groups or 2 more children in the 3rd group because I have two high schoolers volunteering. As you sign up with names and ages, we can work that out, but no child under 5 will be permitted on site, so please make additional plans for younger children ahead of time.
Jobs: warehouse staff must be in high school and able to lift 35 pounds,
labelers apply stickers to MannaPack bags and it is a sit down job, packers - 1 person at each ingredient (vitamins, veggies, soy, and rice), two at the funnel (on each side of the funnel), two at the scales (great job for a parent with a 5 to 7 year old to work one spot together as a team), sealer (must be over 18), and boxer (must be over 18 and it is also a great job to work with a 5-7 year old). You work packing in groups of about 10 and a team of about 20. They decide that day how they will split us up.
They play music and do challenges to keep it interesting. At the end of the session, we help to clean up and then pray over the boxes we packed
back in the warehouse. They will ask if someone wants to volunteer to pray, otherwise they will lead the prayer. If anyone is interested, so you can start thinking about it, they ask that we pray for those packing the meals, those who transport the meals, and those who receive the meals. Sometimes meals leave the warehouse and take a trip by truck, airplane, truck again, small planes, horse or donkey...before reaching their destination!! You will be amazed to hear their success rate.
If anyone is sick with a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea (within the last
48 hours before the session), have a runny nose, or a cough, they are not to pack and are asked to reschedule. If anyone experiences COVID19 symptoms, they also may not pack (see their website for their COVID19 guidelines). All these guidelines are for obvious reasons, as we are
around food ingredients or scooping food ingredients for those who have
weakened immune systems from starvation.
They work totally off of donations. Although they are not required,
donations are much appreciated. It takes .24 to feed a child for a day.
It takes $365 to feed a family for a year. That is roughly $7 per person, for our packing session of 54 people, to feed one family for a year. In the coming weeks, I encourage you to show your family the FMSC site and watch some of the videos and have conversations about the impact our volunteering as a group will have on people around the world.
After getting familiar with FMSC (if you are not familiar with the organization already),brainstorm with your kids, ways that you can raise $7 per registered packer. As an organization (COACH), we could present one check to FMSC and hopefully have $350 to feed one family for a year.
Is there a weekly treat (a want) that can be skipped once or twice and set aside for FMSC? Can children call family members to ask for a small donation and tell them why and what you are going to be doing. Can everyone empty their change into a jar every day until our packing date. Another idea that I used to do when my two were younger, is to have a jar in the middle of the table and have one family member per day put a quarter in the jar to represent one meal for that day. As I mentioned this is not mandatory, but let me know if you plan on trying to raise or donate $7 per family member who will be present and packing.
After we pray (not mandatory) over the food, we return to the front room and see our packing numbers before heading out. Lately they have gotten back into having samples of the Manna meals available to try. There is also a store (market place) where you can by handcrafted items by Artisans from around the world. Supporting their craft gives them opportunities to earn a stable living, learn job skills, and provide them with safe and fair working conditions. All while feeding kids, as the money gets put right back into buying ingredients for Mannapack meals.
Lastly, if you are willing and able to pack, that is awesome and we look forward to seeing you. Wear your COACH gear (if you have it) to show unity.
To sign up, you will need to go to www.fmsc.org and in the upper right hand corner click on "Volunteer." Then scroll down until you see state names in little boxes and click on Texas. Then scroll down past the map until you see a box with the title "Looking for a Specific Group?"
Add 'Laurie Dragon' to the search box and hit the blue box that says "Search Groups" Scroll down until you see "'Laurie Dragon'...and click the join box.
It will ask you to log in or create an account. Once you do that it will direct you to our group sign up page. Click the first or second circle. The third circle is not an option as children need an adult accompanying them and that is you or an adult from your family (18 years of age or older) that is required to be with them. Then follow the prompts. It will tell you how many spots are left and you will need to provide attendee names and ages. You will then be asked to agree to their volunteer age and guidelines - read them and hit accept. Then click continue. You know you were successful when you see a message, "Thank you, your name" and then reservation details which I normally just add to my phone calendar.
It is very important that you only sign up if you are committing to be there because we are taking the rest of that packing session's spots and not allowing the public to fill them. If you have to cancel for any reason, do it as soon as you know you cannot attend so that the spots can be filled by someone else or the public. You will get an email from FMSC confirming your reservation. Save it in case you need to change it. Go to "Manage Your Reservation" and make any necessary changes that you may need to make. You cannot bring anyone extra the day of the event. They work off of reservations only.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by phone or text (214)502-2393 or email lsuedragon13@aol.com or coach email
laurie.dragon@coachhomeschool.org.
Thank you for your time and hope to see you there!
Laurie Dragon