Kids Against Hunger Event

Last holiday season, the Sarasota Christian School community set an ambitious goal of packaging 35,000 meals in December to feed the hungry.  We didn’t meet that goal. We surpassed it by more than 25,000 meals!  

On December 8, over 400 students ages 4 to 18 worked joyfully together with faculty, staff, parents, and Sunnyside Village residents to make a difference in the lives of thousands of families.  The group packaged over 60,000 complete and nutritious meals for distribution to the local All Faiths Food Bank, and to the First Haitian Baptist Church of Belle Glade, Florida.  “Part of our mission is to extend the love of Christ to feed our community’s poor and hungry,” Superintendent Jeff Shank said. “Having so much fun while we do it is a bonus!”

SCS parents Bill and Maryl Henry (Lauren, 10th grade) played an integral role in getting the project underway.  They helped connect the school with the organization Kids Against Hunger, which works for the eradication of hunger in the USA and the world by mobilizing the energy and compassion of communities like ours.  SCS served as a food packaging “satellite” and packed meals of rice, soy protein, dried vegetables, vitamins/minerals and chicken flavoring.  Each meal costs only 18 cents to produce and has a shelf life of 3 years.  

For several weeks before the event, donations were given by local businesses, restaurants, SCS families, and even many of the students themselves toward the purchase of food supplies.  The morning of the event, three semi-trailers from the Kids Against Hunger organization brought the ingredients, boxes, and supplies to the school.  Workers were divided into table groups, and each table had elementary, middle and high school students represented, as well as an SCS faculty or staff member, parent volunteer, or Sunnyside Village resident.  The flurry of activity throughout the day included pouring ingredients into bins and carrying them to tables, and measuring and combining the ingredients.  Each meal package was then carefully weighed, sealed individually, and placed in a large cardboard box with others like it for distribution.  The three semi-trailers left that afternoon full of packaged meals!

All Faiths Food Bank Executive Director Dan Dunn was thrilled with the results.  “We work with 160 agencies to feed people locally,” he said. “I want to personally thank Sarasota Christian School for this amazing event that will help our efforts immensely.”

Many of those who worked that day said they felt blessed by the experience of gathering together as a community to meet the needs of others.  “Helping people like this is good,” sophomore Josh Audet said.  “We definitely have the time and ability.  We should do this more often.”

Note: The story received attention from the local press, including coverage on ABC7 and SNN6, as well as the The Herald-Tribune and The Observer newspapers.  Check out coverage of the event on our YouTube Channel.  Go to our website, www.sarasotachristian.org, and click on the YouTube icon.

Watch videos from the event.

See pictures from the event.

Read about the event.