Feed My Starving Children, a nonprofit organization that encourages volunteers to pack meals for the malnourished in nearly 70 countries, partnered with Tacos 4 Life to bring a meal-packing event to UCA on Sept. 14. 

Robin Johnson, meal pack facilitator, said, “Tacos 4 Life paid for everything” and the host’s only job was to bring in labor. 

Johnson said Tacos 4 Life is one of Feed My Starving Children’s biggest and most successful partnerships and the organization has been a part of the movement since its inception in 2014. 

The event occurred over a two day period, beginning on Sept. 13.

Over the two days, about 310 volunteers served 767 hours total and successfully packed 101,088 mobile meal packs, surpassing the goal of 100,000 packs. 

The number will successfully feed 276 kids one meal per day for an entire year. 

Taylor Michie, a junior predental concentration and general science major, described the process as simple. 

After getting checked in, volunteers watched a brief video explaining Tacos 4 Life’s goal, as well as the ins and outs of crafting a proper mobile meal pack. 

The work began by one student placing a bag labeled “manna” under a funnel, one hand at the neck and the other at the bottom. Each bag would receive one scoop of vegetables, soy, vitamins and rice. After, the bag was weighed, modified by removing or adding rice, sealed and placed in a box. 

Michie said he decided to join because “it was advertised in the predental club.”

 He supported the cause and he had time to volunteer. 

He said, “Thinking about the little children that were getting to eat the meals that I was packing” kept him going, pushing past a sore back and legs that begged for a chair. 

Karington Hopkins, a sophomore health promotions major, said, “I love doing anything that can help the community. If I can participate I’m there.” 

The music was her favorite part of the event, as well as getting to network and meet people she would not have come into contact with otherwise. 

Aliyah Coleman, a junior family and consumer sciences education major, decided to come to the meal packing event to fulfill some of her hours as a BearsServe leader. 

She said her motivation went beyond that, though, as she figured that an event with a substantial goal like packing 100,000 bags would need every hand they could get, and she was both willing and happy to lend hers. 

Her favorite part of the event was working in groups and working with people who differed in every aspect besides one: each one of them wanted to – and was doing their part – to support a greater cause.

Johnson said it is “a solvable problem that we just choose not to do anything about.”

Lesley Graybeal, director of Living Learning Communities, did not hesitate to share her hopes for the event.

“Whenever UCA students get involved in service, I hope for it to have two impacts. First, I hope it has an immediate impact on the community that we are serving,” she said. “In this case, we are helping to meet a basic need for a lot of people, so that kids can eat and then be able to attend school, learn, play, and do all the things that you can do once your basic needs are met.” 

Graybeal said, “Second, and just as importantly, I hope that the event helps students build a sense of themselves as people who are part of a community and who are responsible for other people, not just for their own health and happiness. I think that as people, we build this sense of community and responsibility to each other one act at a time, and I hope this event is part of that growth and development for all our student volunteers.”

The next opportunity to help feed the community will take place Sept. 26 in the Bear Village storm shelter.