By 1C packs 60,000 meals for Haiti | Local | columbustelegram.com – Columbus Telegram
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Volunteers heat-seal a bag of materials at the end of the line
Volunteers pack meals for Mission for Hope
Aerial shot of the volunteers
On Saturday, 1C – The Sanctuary packed 60,000 meals for food-insecure children in Haiti. The event, inspired by and partnered with Mission of Hope, followed a series of fundraisers which raised over $18,000 for the cause.
Director of Christian Education Intern Tim Oberdieck said the event had a fantastic outcome in terms of performance and attendance.
“We had about 200 people show up from the church and the community and packed 60,000 meals in about two-and-a-half hours. It was really cool to see so many people show up,” Oberdieck said.
The meals — consisting of rice, protein and dried veggies — are simple but so important, according to Oberdieck, as almost half of Haiti lives in food insecurity, not knowing when or from where their next meal will come.
“Haiti’s kind of in that perfect storm of political unrest, drought, earthquakes, hurricanes, recently COVID. Everything’s been all over the place for them,” Oberdieck said.
This came to 1C by way of Head Pastor Jim Thelen, Oberdieck said, following Thelen’s trip to Haiti several years ago, where children couldn’t concentrate on what teachers and speakers were saying because of their starvation.
Oberdieck said this was the first of this specific type of event for the church, but they plan on many more.
“This is hope for kids that don’t have any. This is not only providing bodily sustenance, it is also hope for their education, for their future and for improving their lives and their country,” Oberdieck said.
One worker at the event, Lonnie Anderson, said he was inspired by the words of the Mission of Hope representative who spoke at the church.
“We don’t know what hunger really is in this country, when you’re told that some people don’t know where their next meal’s coming from…” Anderson said
Anderson also said it was very gratifying personally to be able to help people in such dire need, being from the United States where many citizens’ definitions of things like “hungry” and “need” can be so different from theirs.
“When you know that there’s people out there where if we’re not the ones who help them, they’re going hungry, that’s what inspired me,” Anderson said.
According to Mission of Hope, 65% of people in Haiti fall below the poverty line there. Through programs like the food-packing event and mission trips, they seek to alleviate that. Because of recent travel policy changes and safety regulations, Mission for Hope currently relies on these types of programs as in-person aid is limited to Haitian natives.
“Just having faith in the good lord above and knowing that he’s supplying for these people in Haiti or Africa or wherever it may be, we ought to feel great need to help these people,” Anderson said.
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Volunteers heat-seal a bag of materials at the end of the line
Volunteers pack meals for Mission for Hope
Aerial shot of the volunteers
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