Jake Browning
reporter@thefranklinpress.com
Macon County residents showed an insatiable hunger for community service this past weekend.
On Saturday morning, CareNet volunteers set up a truck outside of BiLo to collect donations for Feed the Need, the culmination of a month-long push to assemble meals for the faith-based food supplement program.
In addition to individual donations, CareNet also received help from Iotla Valley Elementary School and Angel Medical Center all month long. Kathy Peek, who benefitted from CareNet’s provisions when she battled a severe illness last year, organized this particular function for CareNet.
“I just wanted to pay it forward,” Peek said. “I had a goal when I started of getting together 100 boxes of food. I think right now we’re sitting at 107.”
Just down the road at First United Methodist Church, about 100 people came together to set their sights on hunger at an international level. The church hosted its annual packing day to benefit Rise Against Hunger, an organization that delivers simple, easily deployable food staples to hungry families in particularly food insecure regions of the world like Haiti, Nicaragua, Malawi and more.
Assistant pastor Vicki Lawrence said the congregation had set a lofty goal to pack 35,000 meals by the end of the day.
“It’s important to us that we strive to be a part of something bigger than ourselves,” Lawrence said.
FUMC participates in a packing day for Rise Against Hunger every year, and this year was particularly productive. While the volunteers measured out rice, soy and dehydrated vegetables, someone was always waiting to bang a gong to announce another thousand meals had been completed. About 15 minutes into the packing session, the gong had rung four times.
“We probably have a little bit over 100 people here, and once they get into a rhythm, it tends to go pretty fast,” said Blane Maxwell, community engagement manager for Rise Against Hunger.
CareNet executive director Tim Hogsed said the efforts on Saturday reflect how important it is for individuals to donate their time and resources to good causes. He said that anyone can have a positive impact on the lives of underprivileged people if they take the initiative.
“One person can make such a difference,” Hogsed said. “One person made a huge difference for us this month, and we really appreciate all of her hard work.”
For more information on how to help the hungry, call CareNet at 828-369-2642 or visit maconcarenet.org, or go online to riseagainsthunger.org.