Helping Hands: Volunteers in Sumter help feed starving children worldwide

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - Some helping hands and giving hearts in Sumter made a huge difference for starving children worldwide.

Hundreds of volunteers packed the Sumter County Civic Center for the sixth annual Feed My Starving Children "Mobilepack," an effort to pack over a half million meals in just four days.

The meals, which cost the organization just 22 cents apiece, include vitamins, soy, rice, and vegetables and are specially formulated to provide the proper nourishment to starving children.

The Christian non-profit ships these special meals to embedded missionaries in over 70 countries around the world. The operation is very efficient with volunteers working at stations, assembling meals quickly in equal portions.

Music plays over the loudspeakers and the volunteers dance and cheer, as each box containing the hundreds of packets, is filled.

"We closed our office for the afternoon," said Eric Marechal, a local business owner. "We let our customers know we're going to serve. We're gonna go pack meals for people all over the world."

Marechal said the event was a great way for his employees to give back.

"For the teammates, we feel good about what we're doing. We're laughing, we're dancing together over there. No matter what size your company is, large or small. What a great way to spend an afternoon together."

The event in Sumter has been able to provide over 2 million meals since 2014, with over 500,000 packed this week alone.

Feed My Starving Children has several permanent sites across the US where people can volunteer to pack meals six days a week. Sumter’s location was a temporary event, that clearly made a lasting impact.

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