Churches band together to Feed the Need
By Wendy Foster For The Sun February 6, 2013 4:54PM
The second annual Feed the Need event, which will prepare meals for Feed My Starving Children, will be Feb. 15-17 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Naperville. | Submitted by Les May
By The Numbers
The 425,000 meals to be assembled during Feed the Need requires 2,100 volunteers.
There will be 10 shifts of 210 people each.
Shifts are two hours long, including 30 minutes of introduction and instruction followed by 90 minutes of work
Each meal costs 22 cents. The amount needed to pack 425,000 meals is $93,500. Each participating church is responsible for funding the meals that it has committed to packing.
The age range last year of volunteers was 5 to 80-plus years old.
For additional information or to make a donation to Feed the Need, visit www.fmsc.org or Feed the Need Naperville on Facebook.
At a Glance
What: Feed the Need
When: 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16; 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17
Where: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1310 Shepherd Drive, Naperville
Updated: March 10, 2013 6:07AM
During a period of just three days, more than 2,000 volunteers, brought together by local churches, will assemble about 425,000 meals for starving children.
The second Feed the Need event, which will prepare meals for Feed My Starving Children, will be Feb. 15-17 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Naperville.
While the numbers of volunteers and meals are more than double than last year, they’re half of what coordinators are ultimately striving to achieve. Les May and Bob Huebner who are planning the event, are hoping to someday turn Feed the Need into a community-wide service project packing 1 million meals.
“There’s tremendous potential in Naperville,” May said. “Last year, we had four Lutheran churches participating. This year there are nine churches and congregations, all of different faith denominations. It’s very exciting. I think God is working with us to grow this.”
May said that Naperville is well-suited for a large service project event.
“Naperville already has Ribfest, Last Fling, Cuisine for a Cause and Soup’s On,” May said. “We have great community events for fundraising. What I’m trying to do is develop a service project where residents give not only their money, but also give time with their hands and produce something tangible that will go out into the world and feed children.”
The Naperville faith community is a great “springboard” with which to launch the project on an ultimately broader scale, May said. Invitations to participate in 2013 Feed the Need were sent to the 60 houses of worship in the area.
“We turn to the religious community first because they carry the message. They can rally their resources and people to help the cause,” Huebner said.
Volunteers from Alleluia Lutheran, Good Shepherd Lutheran, Our Saviour’s Lutheran, St. Timothy’s Lutheran, Grace United Methodist, Grace Pointe, Knox Presbyterian, Trinity Church of the Nazarene and First Church of Christ, Scientist, will take part in this year’s Feed the Need.
May and Huebner also have started recruiting area clubs and businesses for support and are hoping that this component will grow.
“It will always be led and organized by churches and congregations, but it will be a true community event open to all,” May said. “Our goal is to include everyone … Naperville residents and businesses.”
Huebner says it’s a chance to change the world in a small way.
“There is such a need out there,” Huebner said. “There’s a need to feed children, but there’s also a need for service opportunities in the community. People want to do something. Spending 90 minutes to feed a starving child … people 5 to 95 years old can change the world in as little as 90 minutes. We’re making people aware of what they can do with their own two hands in 90 minutes.”
