Last Wednesday, there was quite the sight to behold at Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School. Dozens of people, all wearing hairnets, were in the school lobby. The whole room was taking part in a giant assembly line-like effort. There were several tables with people surrounding them packing little bags full of rice and other grains. The volunteers were all working in service of the program Meals from the Heartland.
According to their website, Meals from the Heartland is a faith-related organization that believes in the importance of prayer, volunteer service and financial giving to help save starving children. The organization works with volunteers to package meals for delivery to malnourished people in Iowa, across the United States and around the world.
Meals from the Heartland was in Clarion last week thanks to efforts of the CGD FFA who organized the project. Leader Angela Charlson said the meal packing was something that the group had been wanting to do for a couple years but COVID delayed those plans. Last week though, everything finally came together to make the effort possible.
This effort included the helping hands of over 150 volunteers from the school, community and businesses to pack meals. Joel O’Dell, Hunger Fight Supervisor for Meals from the Heartland, explained that the group was working to pack 40,000 “Hearty Pack meals” that day. Hearty Pack meals contain rice, soy protein, dried vegetables, vitamins and minerals, the group’s website explains. The meals were formulated by a nutritionist to be accepted by many cultures around the world and by those who are malnourished. When cooked in boiling water, the rice expands, the soy adds protein and the dried vegetables and vitamin powder provide additional micro-nutrients that are needed.
O’Dell said that the meals will eventually be distributed not only in Iowa and the U.S., but throughout the world. He added that they are an Iowa-based organization and that he regularly travels across the state and works with groups like FFA chapters and other volunteers that come together to pack meals. “As a retired missionary, I have seen poverty and know how important food is to people,” said O’Dell.
The FFA folks were also inspired by the importance of the project and all the people who came out to help with it. CGD FFA member and the project’s chairperson, Delia Swanson said, “It’s so great to be helping people outside of the country. We couldn’t have done this without all these great volunteers.”
Charlson echoed that sentiment. “I think of the Mahatma Gandhi quote- ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,’” she emphasized. “To help with something like this, you don’t have to give a ton of money, just a little time and it helps others so much.”
At the end of the day, by giving just a couple of hours, the dozens of volunteers will be sending meals and good will across the country and the world.
