Patch Gives Back: Editors Volunteer At Feed My Starving Children

I think it’s fair to say nobody looks good in a hairnet. But, just about everyone looks better—and feels better—when their stomach is full.

For a few hours Tuesday afternoon, seven Patch editors donned hairnets to help starving children in Djibouti, Africa.

Patch believes in giving back, and this week is our "Give 5" week, an opportunity to pick a day to volunteer at a nonprofit.

We set to work with summer campers and volunteer groups and helped pack meals for children around the world at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora. There were 64 people in attendance during our two-hour packing session, and we packed 65 boxes of food.

The Patch editors had different roles during the two-hour volunteer event; some worked in the warehouse, others packed food or distributed ingredients.

Feed My Starving Children distributes the packaged meals, which include vitamins, dehydrated vegetables, soy and rice. When cooked with water the meal provides much needed vitamins and protein to starving families.

To date, the organization has provided about 600,000 million meals to children in need. Patch editors were at a table packing food specifically for children in Djibouti, but other countries were also represented.

The volunteers during our shift at Feed My Starving Children packed 65 boxes of food, which translates to 14,040 meals to feed 39 children for a year. Donors pay it forward, by providing funds, which pay for the meals. The meals packed were valued at $3,080.