Hi, I am back with another post. We started volunteering about 3 years back during holiday season. This year we volunteered at Kids Against Hunger. Yesterday my dad found this opportunity to volunteer at the Pleasanton location. You can find more information about the program here. To further know about the volunteer opportunities in Bay Area you can find information here .
We went to volunteer with a group of 35 people. There were a few kids in our group. Once all the volunteers arrived, we walked into a large room. We were all given hair caps to make sure that hair doesn't fall in the meal packs while packing. We were also asked to sanitize our hands and wear gloves. In the room there were 8 tables with different boxes, weighing scales, funnels, hot press and measuring cups. We were all assigned a role based on our age.
Before the packing began the organizer described the process. There are 5 stations
- Funnel Station
- Food Station
- Weighing Station
- Sealing Station
- Packing station
The process of packing starts from the funnel station. On our table there were 2 boys (including myself) and we were in charge of this. Our job is to open the bag and put the funnel inside the bag and hold it tight so that the people at the food station can put 1 cup of Soy ( protein) ,1 tbsp of dehydrated vegetables ( minerals and also flavor), 1 tbsp of milk powder ( calcium and iron) and 1 cup of rice (carbohydrates). Once all these are added in the bag we take the filled bag to the weighing station and leave it in the stand and we move on to the next bag.
Next, the weighing station volunteers weighs the bag to make sure it is between 390 and 396 grams. After the weighing station is done weighing the meal bag is moved to the sealing station. Here the bags are sealed using hot press. This is one station where kids are not allowed to work. Once the bags are sealed they are packed into boxes. Each box contains 36 meal kits. Lastly, all the packed boxes are transported in shipping containers to areas where there is a need. One bag can provide a meal for 6 people !! Isn't that amazing!?
During our break time they showed us a video about how the program started and the real impact of this program. It was a 5 min video we saw how the food is transported to Haiti and how it is distributed. In the video I saw kids of different age groups eating the food that was cooked, with out complaining. It made me feel thankful for what I have. If time permits I want to volunteer once a month to help this cause.
By the end of the session we packed an eye popping 9936 meals that are going to be sent to Haiti or any other place that has a food shortage. Each table made an average of 150 bags of food.
I hope that one day we will be able to eradicate hunger in the world. I understand that it is a long way to go, but as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said " A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". It was a great learning experience and I am thankful that I got to be a part of this effort.
