Where do your kids go when school lets out early?

When they had an early release day on March 5, youth (and adults) from Park United Methodist Church in Brainerd went to pack meals for Kids Against Hunger. The group of 24, ages 6 to 80, packed 4,968 rice-and-beans meals. The packed meals will go to Minnesota food shelves throughout the state, as well as the Philippines. Last year, Kids Against Hunger (in conjunction with dedicated volunteers) packed more than 40 million meals for families both local and global.

In January, Park UMC youth participated in a lock-in to make “Fairbooth Soup” to sell at its “Souper Bowl of Caring” event. They raised $362. Along with additional donations, the group was able to give $407 to Kids Against Hunger.

Meals packed through Kids Against Hunger are counted toward the Minnesota Conference's Million Meals Marathon, an initiative through which we aim to pack 1 million meals for hungry children before the 2014 annual conference session.

When is the next time the youth in your community have an early release day? Consider taking them to pack meals. Meal packing is just one of the ways we can live out God's call to heal a broken world.