Feed the Need meal-packing event heads to Benedictine U. March 2-3

Feed the Need, a communitywide volunteer event benefiting Feed My Starving Children, will take over the Rice Center at Benedictine University in Lisle March 2-3 as volunteers seek to pack and fund 800,000 meals for children experiencing hunger worldwide.

Started in 2012 by a group of Naperville churches, the event has grown to include faith communities, student groups and individual volunteers from across DuPage County.

Anyone age 5 or older can participate in one of Feed the Need’s two-hour meal-packing shifts, where volunteers of all ages work together at tables to assemble MannaPack meal bags containing a specially formulated blend of vitamins, vegetables, soy and rice.

Since its start 12 years ago, Feed the Need Illinois “has packed and funded almost 9 million meals, enough to feed more than 24,000 children a nutritious meal each day for an entire year,” says Les May, a member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Naperville and a co-coordinator of the event.

The energetic, upbeat atmosphere of the event makes a memorable impression on new volunteers, May notes, and the chance to make a real, tangible impact on the lives of children globally keeps volunteers coming back.

“It’s a great opportunity for family, friends and colleagues to help feed starving children across the world,” he says.

Feed the Need moves this year to Benedictine U. from North Central College (its home for the past several years) and to a new, later weekend that organizers hope will allow participation from families who travel over Presidents Day weekend in February.

Volunteer-led setup will take place Friday, March 1, at the Rice Center, and meal packing will kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 2.

Six meal-packing shifts are available through Sunday, March 3. For more information and to register for or donate to the event, visit feedtheneedillinois.org.