Gifts That Won’t Be Forgotten 

 Some 300 children, teens, and adults donned hairnets during spring break this year to care for families struggling in Immokalee, Florida. Last December, freezing temperatures left some 14,000 Haitian, Mexican, and Guatemalan migrant workers stranded and out of work for four months. Most of these families had few resources to support them during the time they were without income.  

The community food packaging event was sponsored by World Vision, One By One Leadership and Bethel Assembly of God to benefit families in Haiti and Immokalee who remain without work. Working in conjunction with IHOPE (Immokalee Helping Our People in Emergencies), some 67,000 meals were packaged for families in need.

Immokalee Middle School Gymnasium buzzed for hours as beans, rice, dried vegetables, protein, and vitamins were assembled in bags, sealed, and boxed. Among those assisting in this “Kids Against Hunger” effort were youth teams from World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine, teens participating in mission projects, local youth, and women from World Vision’s Women of Vision. Participants from as far away as Helena, Montana, participated in the event.

Dodie Meister was among those volunteering to pack the food. “To see everyone come together whether they were black, white, Hispanic or Haitian was amazing,” says Dodie, who attends Marco Lutheran Church in Naples, Florida. “To see the little kids carrying those buckets (of food supplies) and so proud of what they were doing and working so hard was awesome.”

Ruston Seaman, World Vision’s National Director of Rural Ministries, says, “This was a powerful tool for engaging young people in a hard-hit community to respond and help their neighbors.”

Hear the story and see the volunteers at work in this You Tube video:

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)