Take a few hundred pounds of rice, soy, and dehydrated vegetables, add 56 volunteers, blend for a bit less than two hours, and the result is a pallet loaded with boxes containing more than 10,000 nutritious meals, ready for shipment to people coping with food insufficiency.
This recipe was prepared on Saturday, April 5 at Bethlehem United Methodist Church, Bena. It was the fourth time the church has hosted a food packing event for Rise Against Hunger, an international nonprofit with the mission of ending world hunger.
Combating food insufficiency is an important ministry for Bethlehem. The church does this work locally as well as globally, as a donation site for the Bread For Life community pantry in Gloucester. Volunteers for the event were church members and friends and a contingent from the Gloucester Rotary Club.
Food packing events are a study in efficiency. Using the construction line model, the process begins with several groups of four or five volunteers gathered around large y...