by Dennis Dalman
A mind-boggling number of meals – 220,000, to be exact – were packaged by more than 700 volunteers during an event dubbed “Better Together: Feeding Our Communities” held July 29 at Apollo High School in St. Cloud.
People from St. Cloud and all the surrounding cities were members of the massive volunteer feat. Leslie Mulder of Sartell was one of the organizers, and many other Sartell residents contributed money or volunteered for the packaging sessions.
All of the meals packaged will go to food shelves, churches and other charity places in Central Minnesota to help feed hungry people.
The event was organized by the Central Minnesota Communities Coalition with help gladly offered by individuals, businesses, churches and organizations, such as United Way of Central Minnesota.
The CMCC raised $55,000 to purchase the ingredients that went into the dry food packages. The recipients then mix the package contents with boiling water until the “meal” is hydrated and edible. One of the highly nutritious meals contains enough protein, and added vitamins and minerals, to provide a family of four with a day’s worth of dietary needs.
At Apollo High School, the cafeteria was a busy hive of activity as four shifts of nearly 200 volunteers worked incessantly throughout the day to measure, mix and bag the healthy ingredients in their sealable plastic bags. Each shift worked two-hour time blocks. There were three kinds of meals made: tomato-basil pasta mixture; mac and cheese; and beans and rice. Each meal contains 11 grams of protein, and 21 vitamins and minerals, and each costs 25 cents total to buy the ingredients they contain.
Other volunteers worked to assemble big cardboard boxes into which the thousands of meals were placed. The boxes were then stacked at one end of the cafeteria, ready to be delivered to various places throughout Central Minnesota, such as the Salvation Army, Albany, Buffalo, The Cross Center, the Islamic Center and Catholic Charities. Many will also be delivered to other food shelves in the area.