Students from Traverse City West Senior High School will join forces with The Kids Against Hunger Michigan Coalition, the Michigan District of Kiwanis International, and the Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA) on September 25th to help feed the hungry around the world — and encourage others to do the same.
The food-packaging event will take place at the Grand Traverse Resort as part of the MASA Fall Conference September 24th-26th that will be attended by more than 600 superintendents and other school district leaders from across the state. MASA members will be invited to join the Traverse City West Senior High School students on a food packaging assembly line where they will measure, weigh, and package 13.8-ounce bags of nutritious rice-soy casserole mix that can each feed six adults or 12 children. A portion of the food packaged will be donated to the Father Fred Foundation in Traverse City.
The goal of the packaging event is for school district leaders to experience the power of Kids Against Hunger first-hand and inspire them to take the program back to their schools and communities. The packaging event will be followed by a breakout session where MASA members can learn how to establish Kids Against Hunger partnerships in their community, as well as learn how to organize a packaging event.
Kids Against Hunger is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to providing food to malnourished and starving children throughout the world. The organization partners with local schools, churches, and other community groups to organize food packaging events where as many as 20,000 food bags can be assembled in a three-hour period. Last year alone, Michiganschool children packaged more than 1.1 million meals through Kids Against Hunger to feed hungry children in Central and South America, Africa, and their own communities.
“It is our objective to reach out to school districts throughout the State of Michigan,” said Kids Against Hunger Michigan Coalition President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Donald Burwell.
“If each school district in Michigan organized a three-hour food packaging event at just one elementary, one middle, and one high school each year, the result would be 15 million meals for the hungry and starving worldwide.”
For the past two years, students from Traverse City West Senior High School’s Key Club have joined with students from other local high schools to package food for Kids Against Hunger, noted TC West Senior High School Media Specialist and Key Club Sponsor Chris Esper.
“This joint project gives students an opportunity to build relationships with students from other area schools and with our local Kiwanis adults, while at the same time making a difference for local families in need as well as families around the globe,” Esper said.
Local Kiwanis groups have been instrumental in providing funding and manpower to support Kids Against Hunger packaging events across the state.
“Our hope is that kids come out of the experience feeling good about helping someone else in need and that they are inspired to become involved in community service,” said Clare Burns, Governor of the Michigan District of Kiwanis International. “We help manage and fund the Kids Against Hunger programs, but it is the kids who do the work and that goes a long way in giving them self-esteem and hope.”
So strong is the commitment to Kids Against Hunger that Kiwanis groups from across Michigan are planning food packaging events for “Kiwanis One Day” on April 4, 2009, when Kiwanis organizations around the world are asked to be out in concert doing community service projects.