Rise Against Hunger

Some of our volunteers surrounding the over 10,000 meals we packed as part of Rise Against Hunger

On Sunday, April 12th, Grace United Methodist Church certainly did rise up against hunger! Last Christmas the church was in a good financial position and so our Christmas offering went toward Rise Against Hunger, to help pay for food that would go to feed children, mostly in school settings, who might otherwise not have a meal. We had more donations come in to support this effort leading up to April 12th, and its a good thing, too, because it cost $4,000 to put together this event. But let me tell you, it was worth it! It was a lot of fun, and we had fifty volunteers working together for about an hour and a half to package 10,152 meals! Wow! What an incredible effort and a phenomenal result from so many people! It was great to see a few extra folks come out for this special event, and to have a truly all-ages event. Young and old were fully engaged in weighing, packing and boxing a pallet full of boxes that represent food for children in need. We were told the exact location for these meals is not always known, but here’s a list of countries impacted by Rise Against Hunger: Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cuba | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Dominican Republic | El Salvador | Guatemala | Haiti | Honduras | India | Kenya | Liberia | Malaysia | Mali | Mexico | Nigeria | Philippines | Sierra Leone | Singapore | South Africa | South Sudan | Tanzania | Timor-Leste | Uganda | Ukraine | Vietnam | Zambia

I was delighted to see the smiling faces and all the dancing as we packaged meals and made an impact beyond our own church walls. I was even contacted after the event to get the information for Rise Against Hunger to see if some family members in churches in other parts of the country might want to hold a similar event! Your impact is being multiplied and its part of the beauty of being an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ. Many thanks go to the Mission Committee, and particularly Patricia Hiltke who was an immediate advocate for putting together this unique event to bless the church and the world. God bless and thanks for being a part of the fun!

— Pastor Brian Neville