… Second annual event set for Feb. 24-25
A group of University of Mississippi students and Oxford residents are getting ready to touch thousands of lives halfway around the world.
Feed the Hunger, a new Ole Miss student organization, is organizing the university’s second annual Pack-A-Thon, a two-day event in which volunteers gather to pack food into meal kits that will be sent to underprivileged children in Africa.
The Pack-a-Thon begins at 6 p.m. Feb. 24 and runs through 5 p.m. Feb. 25. Volunteers will meet at the Oxford Park Commission Activity Center at the corner of Molly Barr Road and Pierce Street to pack the food items, including rice, soy, vegetables and chicken, provided by New Directions International.
“Last year’s Pack-A-Thon provided more than 140,000 meals for starving children, which far surpassed the original goal of 135,000 meals,” said Katherine Russell, Pack-a-Thon student coordinator and member of the UM Feed the Hunger chapter. “We were able to feed 1,000 children for a quarter of a year. This year, we want to do more.”
Volunteers will work in 17-member teams for two-hour shifts: 6-8:30 p.m. Feb. 24, and 9-11 a.m., noon-2 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. Feb. 25. Each volunteer also is asked to contribute $65 to help pay for the packaging materials and shipping costs.
“Each meal costs only 27 to 29 cents, but we need to raise at least $35,000 to package and ship the meals to Kenya, that’s why we ask for contributions,” said Russell, a junior communicative disorders major from Little Rock, Ark.
Valeria Ross, the group’s UM staff adviser, praised the effort.
“Last year, Mary Katherine Perry spearheaded the inaugural Feed the Hunger Pack-a-Thon,” said Ross, assistant dean of students for multi-cultural affairs and volunteer services. “The event was a huge success This year brings yet another committed and hard working group of students who decided to not only take on this endeavor, but also to become an official university student group.
“The group has increased its goal, and they are working to provide nearly double the number of meals that last year’s efforts provided for Kenya. For them, this is more than a meal; it’s a way to bring the university and local communities together for a common goal. I commend them on their efforts to make a difference both locally and internationally.”
Volunteers are still needed to commit for shifts at the packing center. For more information on Feed the Hunger or to donate online visit, http://feedthehunger.org or friend the Feed the Hunger: Ole Miss Pack-a-Thon organization on Facebook.
People interested in volunteering can email UMPAT2011@gmail.com or call Katherine Russell at 501-837-0717 for more information.