“Of all the world’s problems, feeding kids is most important. In Kenya, I got to watch kids who have trouble in school because they have empty stomachs,” said Meagan Schipper, vice president of the Miami chapter. “Feeding the hungry is one of most important problems we can solve. It’s humbling.”
Schipper said she had an opportunity to visit Kenya last year and it helped bring home to her how important the work of Feed My Starving Children is.
“Two hours of the day will save a child for seven months. It’s crazy,” she said. “We, as an organization, have fed over 600 children for a year.”
Feed My Starving Children will hold its MobilePack project at the Armstrong Student Center on Saturday, April 12, with volunteers asked to work two-hour shifts. Volunteers are asked to raise $50 each to cover the cost of the packs they will fill in that period of time.
“We ask volunteers to raise money. Each volunteer has a goal of $50. That’s about the value of what you would pack in a shift. We want you to pack the food you are responsible for. It’s a really cool experience to watch people come to a realization at the event,” Schipper said.
Open registration for volunteers will begin on-line on Wednesday, March 5.
The MobilePack event was held at Millett Hall the first time, two years ago, and moved to the former Walmart building on South Locust Street last year. Now that building has been torn down, they went looking for a new site and found it at the new student center.
Food to be packed will be delivered by truck and then picked up after it is packed for shipping. The main center for Feed My Starving Children is in the Chicago area but food will go out to countries around the world after packing is completed by chapters around the country.
Junior Jordan Habel, a Chicago resident, brought the idea to Oxford as a freshman.
“Jordan brought it out here. He’s from Chicago and he has been to the warehouse. I was at a Bible study my freshman year and Jordan showed up,” Schipper said, explaining that he showed a short video about the project and she was hooked. “I was a freshman and had not found my fit yet, so I took this.”
Schipper, a Cincinnati native, said she was immediately drawn to the work of Feed My Starving Children. In high school and last summer, she has worked with Matthew 25 Ministries, which gives her the confidence to be a part of this effort.
“I knew I could handle this project,” she said. Now, she serves as the group’s vice president, dealing with communications.
The Feed My Starving Children web site explains their mission by saying approximately 6,200 children die a day from hunger and hunger-related disease, according to UNICEF.
“We invite you to join us in being a part of the hunger solution through this Feed My Starving Children MobilePack. This is an opportunity to learn about hunger related issues, pray for those in need, raise funds to cover the cost of meals and pack meals for the hungry. Through this powerful event, we can impact the lives of thousands of children,” the FMSC website says.
Schipper said the local effort may have been started on the Miami campus and be student-led but it is a community-wide effort with Oxford community members of all ages invited to take part. They have gotten good Oxford support the past two years and want to see more.
“We want more people from outside Miami. We are trying to reach people outside Miami. We have had elementary kids come. It is awesome to watch kids interact with Miami University students. Anybody can do it,” Schipper said.
She said there is a core group of 11 organizers for the Miami chapter of Feed My Starving Children with approximately 50 people who are helping to organize various activities, such as a 5-k run/walk scheduled for March 8.
Schipper said she expects to take her experience at helping others through Feed My Starving Children beyond her college years and be involved in something to help others. She said she is studying business and logistics but expects to find some social service effort in the future.
“Without a doubt, it will be part of my life, whether I’m paid or not,” she said.
Go to www.fundraising.fmsc.org/miamiuniversity to learn more about fundraising and to register to help.
There is also a Facebook page. Go to Facebook and search for MU Feed My Starving Children. The FMSC web site is fmsc.org.
Schipper can be contacted at mschipper2011@gmail.com.
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