Published: Saturday, May 2, 2009
Mill Creek marathon packs meals for hungry kids
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Christina Harper / The Herald
Children of the Nations staff and volunteers (from left) Sarah Redfern, Fraser Ratzlaff, Kristen Bushnell, James Aydelotte, Tony Jenkins and Dave Spoon rest on bags of rice that will be used at the 285 K Meal Marathon at Mill Creek Foursquare Church today.
LYNNWOOD -- Almost 600 volunteers are signed up today at a Lynnwood Church to put together 285,000 bags of food for children in Sierra Leone in West Africa.
Children of the Nations, a Seattle-based organization, has been hosting Meal Marathons in Silverdale for five years. This is the first one in Snohomish County and will take place at the Mill Creek Foursquare Church.
"We wanted to have it at a place that was easily accessible," said Kristen Bushnell, director of marketing and special events.
Volunteers and staff will package ingredients for a soup made od rice, lentils, dried vegetable spice and fortified chicken stock. Each meal costs 25 cents.
The soup packaging program began in response to the 2004 tsunami in Thailand.
"The mission at the time was serving kids in distress," Bushnell said.
Shifts at Mill Creek Foursquare Church are in two-hour increments and the soup bags will be boxed and shipped from the church.
Children of the Nations workers try to give a personal look at kids around the world that are affected by hunger. During the Meal Marathon event, there will be updates on how many bags have been packed, and video showing some of the children who will be recipients of the food.
"The fun thing about this event is that it is a concrete, hands-on way to make a difference," Bushnell said. "Hunger and malnutrition are a problem but people don't know what they can do about it."
One of the things that Bushnell enjoys about working with Children of the Nations is that the organization has been around long enough to know what to do to help, but is still small enough that people can watch the entire process. Volunteers will arrive this morning to fill the bags; the container will be filled at the church and sent to Sierra Leone. It will arrive in West Africa in July and Fraser Ratzlaff, feeding coordinator for the greater Seattle area, will be there to help with the distribution.
Ratzlaff says studies show that one child dies every five seconds from hunger-related causes in the world. That translates into 6 million children a year.
"The goal is 1,000 people to package food," Ratzlaff said. "We will take walk-ins."
Food packaging events are held at smaller churches and schools.
"We bring all the stuff with us," Ratzlaff said.
Children of the Nations work in Malawi, the Dominican Republic, Uganda and Sierra Leone. The organization also keeps a portion of what is packaged at Meal Marathons and distributes food to those in need in the United States.
"We encourage people to get involved in a hands-on way," Ratzlaff said. "You can lay hands on the food bringing children out of malnutrition."
Christina Harper: 425-339-3491. harper@heraldnet.com.
Get packing
Children of the Nations Meal Marathon begins at 6 this morning and continues throughout the day at Mill Creek Foursquare Church, 1415 164th St. SW, Lynnwood. Call, 360-698-7227 or go to www.cotni.org. Volunteers can walk in and sign up to help package food.
Children of the Nations, a Seattle-based organization, has been hosting Meal Marathons in Silverdale for five years. This is the first one in Snohomish County and will take place at the Mill Creek Foursquare Church.
"We wanted to have it at a place that was easily accessible," said Kristen Bushnell, director of marketing and special events.
Volunteers and staff will package ingredients for a soup made od rice, lentils, dried vegetable spice and fortified chicken stock. Each meal costs 25 cents.
The soup packaging program began in response to the 2004 tsunami in Thailand.
"The mission at the time was serving kids in distress," Bushnell said.
Shifts at Mill Creek Foursquare Church are in two-hour increments and the soup bags will be boxed and shipped from the church.
Children of the Nations workers try to give a personal look at kids around the world that are affected by hunger. During the Meal Marathon event, there will be updates on how many bags have been packed, and video showing some of the children who will be recipients of the food.
"The fun thing about this event is that it is a concrete, hands-on way to make a difference," Bushnell said. "Hunger and malnutrition are a problem but people don't know what they can do about it."
One of the things that Bushnell enjoys about working with Children of the Nations is that the organization has been around long enough to know what to do to help, but is still small enough that people can watch the entire process. Volunteers will arrive this morning to fill the bags; the container will be filled at the church and sent to Sierra Leone. It will arrive in West Africa in July and Fraser Ratzlaff, feeding coordinator for the greater Seattle area, will be there to help with the distribution.
Ratzlaff says studies show that one child dies every five seconds from hunger-related causes in the world. That translates into 6 million children a year.
"The goal is 1,000 people to package food," Ratzlaff said. "We will take walk-ins."
Food packaging events are held at smaller churches and schools.
"We bring all the stuff with us," Ratzlaff said.
Children of the Nations work in Malawi, the Dominican Republic, Uganda and Sierra Leone. The organization also keeps a portion of what is packaged at Meal Marathons and distributes food to those in need in the United States.
"We encourage people to get involved in a hands-on way," Ratzlaff said. "You can lay hands on the food bringing children out of malnutrition."
Christina Harper: 425-339-3491. harper@heraldnet.com.
Get packing
Children of the Nations Meal Marathon begins at 6 this morning and continues throughout the day at Mill Creek Foursquare Church, 1415 164th St. SW, Lynnwood. Call, 360-698-7227 or go to www.cotni.org. Volunteers can walk in and sign up to help package food.
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