Group packs 50,000 meals for kids
Each school district in the region involved with Let’s Feed Miami Valley has a backpack program.
Let’s Feed Miami Valley, a program started to combat childhood hunger in the Dayton area, packed approximately 50,000 lunches at Wright State’s Nutter Center on Friday for this upcoming school year.
This program is a faith-based community food packing event, primarily created by Discover Point Church in Kettering, to provide next-meal security to children in the Miami Valley.
The program began last year when members of Discover Point Church had been praying and searching for a new way to help their community, according to pastor Tracy Wright. While searching for an opportunity, the church received a phone call by an organization called generosity feeds.
From there, the church hosted the first meal-packing event last August, when they packed around 10,000 meals with around 300 volunteers from the community. This year, Wright said that their goal is to multiply.
“We’re going to be packing over 50,000 meals across the entire event that will go home in school backpack programs for kids and families that face meal insecurities,” said Jill LaRock, member of Discover Point Church. “These meals will be going to various backpack programs across the Miami Valley. Some of these counties include Greene, Montgomery and Warren.”
Each school district involved with this organization has its own backpack program. For example, Beavercreek’s is called “Feed the Creek,” Kettering’s “The Kettering Backpack Program” or “X out hunger” in Xenia.
“Our goal is to provide these meals free to each of these frontline programs and then to promote them to the people in their community,” said Wright. “We also hope that people will come
and serve here once they hear about us so that we can multiply and eventually reach every county within the Miami Valley.”
As the group of 450-500 volunteers packed meals, they also prayed for and thought about those affected by the Oregon District shooting last weekend.
“We are really excited about what we have going on here this weekend, especially with all that happened in our community last weekend in the Oregon District because this gives people an opportunity to come in and pray for their community members while helping them at the same time,” said Wright.
For information or to get involved, see letsfeedmiamivalley.org/.