Students spent x-period Aug. 27 packing blessing bags in partnership with the UCA Wesley Foundation and the Hunger Relief Army.
“It’s gonna be a party,” said Jeffrey Medders, program director of the Hunger Relief Army.
Amy Shores, the director of the Wesley Foundation, said it was the ministry’s first time partnering with the Hunger Relief Army to pack blessing bags.
Shores said, “Service is a big part of our organization.”
“Hosting this event was the perfect opportunity to show that to students,” Shores said. “It showed who we are to everybody.”
The Baltimore Station, a nonprofit organization based in Baltimore, Maryland, said a blessing bag, also called a care package or necessity bag, is a “kit that includes a variety of items for those struggling with homelessness, hunger and other basic needs.”
Participants at the event created thousands of blessing bags.
They started by placing one packet of tomato sauce.
Medders said there are “lots of nutritious minerals” in a bag labeled “Spanish rice.”
Medders trained students, demonstrating how to pack a blessing bag.
After two hours, participants packed a total of 6,000 bags — each weighing four ounces.
To finish building the blessing bag, students placed the packet-filled bag under a funnel and filled it with vegetables, soy and rice.
The bag was weighed, modified, sealed and placed in a box.
Medders said, “Jesus gave us a specific list of important things.”
“Jesus gave us very specific instructions. I want to do what he did,” Medders said.
Since Medder’s beginnings in 2020, he has packed over 2.5 million bags of “portable, highly nutritious food that church food pantries love to receive.”
The blessing bags made in the student center will be “delivered to over 100 churches” in Medders’ network.
Karrington Hopkins, a sophomore health promotion major, said she enjoyed “the whole environment.”
“We were all having a good time. The vibes were there,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins was “eager to jump in”
Emily Wunsch, a senior creative writing major, said the event was “fun.”
She said she enjoyed “meeting new people” and liked to “feel productive without the weight of schoolwork.”