On June 22, 2013, Wisconsin potato growers and their families will once again gather to help pack meals for children suffering from malnutrition and hunger around the globe. The potato-meal packing event will take place at the Stevens Point Municipal Airport and volunteers expect to pack over 100,000 servings of MannaPack Potato meals developed by the non-profit Christian charitable organization, Feed My Starving Children.
This will be the third year Wisconsin potato and vegetable growers have participated in this event. This year, we expect about 320 volunteers.
“Giving the gift of your time is very rewarding,” said Paula Houlihan, a member of the Wisconsin Potato Growers Auxiliary board and event coordinator. “It’s a simple, but powerful process. We offer volunteers the choice of where they want to donate their time, whether it’s filling bags, sealing packs, refilling ingredients or stacking filled boxes for shipping. We also continuously show a video from FMSC about the potato packs and stories about the children who benefit from them. It’s very moving.”
Mike Carter, CEO of Bushmans’ Inc., Rosholt, heard about the Feed My Starving Children program through the United States Potato Board, and has spearheaded the fundraising efforts in Wisconsin.
MannaPack™ Potato meals are formulated to prevent starvation in children using dehydrated potatoes, vitamins and minerals. Volunteers work in teams to measure ingredients into bags, weigh them, and heat-seal the filled bags. The completed meals are boxed and shipped to starving children at various locations around the world.
