PROSPERITY — Every six seconds, a child dies from not having enough to eat. Because of this, Wightman United Methodist Church in Prosperity has decided to take a stand in the fight against hunger with the help of the Stop Hunger Now ministry.
Stop Hunger now is a global humanitarian aid organization dedicated to putting an end to hunger since 1998. Each year, this ministry provides millions of nutritious meals to children and families across the globe. Meals are provided to vulnerable communities in places such as schools, orphanages, nurseries and medical clinics.
Each meal provided by Stop Hunger now has a shelf life of approximately two years, and costs only 25 cents. The meal contains rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a flavoring mix with 21 essential vitamins and minerals. The estimate is that this 25 cent meal, is enough to feed six people.
Taking up an offering in 2012, the Wightman church family held a meal-packaging event in January of this year, packaging almost 30,000 meals that were to be shipped overseas. Now, their youth group will be taking it a step further, traveling to the Methodist annual conference in Florence June 11 along with other churches, and together will be packaging close to 290,000 meals that are targeted to be delivered to Haiti.
To prepare for events such as these, youth director at Wightman, Steven Douglas fed the youth group a similar meal one Sunday night during their usual snack time.
“I think providing a meal close to what they were sending to kids their own age and younger, helped them to appreciate the blessings they have received,” Douglas said.
Julia Roach, 14, is looking forward to meeting all of the people involved with the annual conference event. “It’s really made me think about how God blesses us every day with what we have and how easily we can save someone’s life,” she said.
Three shifts will make up the large Stop Hunger Now event in June. The Wightman youth will be taking part with other youth in the third shift from 2 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The event will be followed by a worship service which will include a performance by Brett Younker from Passion City Church.
For more information on how to participate in Stop Hunger Now events such as these, or other ways to help, visit www.stophungernow.org.
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