'Blessed' volunteers give back on Christmas Eve at Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg

The spirit of giving is always in the air at Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg, but Friday felt a little different.

With Christmas carols filling the room with music, about 250 people, mostly families, spent their Christmas Eve filling bags with food for hungry kids around the world.

Ryan Mitchell, volunteer program supervisor, said it's not like every other day.

"I think everyone comes in a little more cheerful and joyful on Christmas Eve," he said.

Mitchell said the volunteers in each of the two Christmas Eve sessions make monetary donations, usually $50 a person or $150 for a family, which covers the cost of the ingredients they packed, in addition to donating their time.

"There's definitely a different feeling in the air," he said. "The people want to be here, they're excited to be here, they're happy to give back."

Feed My Starving Children is a Christian nonprofit organization that coordinates the packaging and distribution of meals that are developed by food science and nutrition professionals for people suffering from malnutrition in developing nations.

Ty Gorman of Barrington said his family has made volunteering their Christmas Eve tradition.

"We've done it every Christmas Eve for the last four years," Gorman said. "We're so blessed around Christmastime, we want to try to help others out whenever we can."

His daughter Grace, 12, said she was happy to be there with her family, including her brother Noah, 9, and mom Stacey, keeping them motivated to move fast.

"I really like the competitive nature of it, and then you get rewarded by finding out how much you gave to help people in other countries that aren't as fortunate," she said.