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"Our seven campers had a blast! Thanks for the great experience for our youth."
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Temple United Methodist Church
Stop Hunger Now
Thank you to all the donors who contributed to our Stop Hunger Now program for summer 2011. We have now wrapped-up our meal-packing program for the summer. Here's a look at how this program evolved - and a summary of how we did:
On Thursday, June 17, 2010, delegates attending the North Georgia Annual Conference at the Classic Center in Athens were asked to roll up their sleeves and help assemble meals to feed hungry people across the world. Delegates responded with exuberance, and a total of 200,000 meals were packed in a single day. This was the result of a partnership between the Conference and Stop Hunger Now, a global hunger-relief organization, and the results proved that committed Christians can make a difference in the lives of people in need.
| At left, a meal packing event at which volunteers follow very detailed instructions to prepare meals including rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a flavoring mix including 21 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packets. At center, a group of school girls enjoy meals prepared by Stop Hunger Now. At right, the Reverend Dr. Gerald Thurman, District Superintendent of the Gainesville District, joins with other delegates at Annual Conference 2010 to assemble meals. (Photos courtesy of Stop Hunger Now) |
Early in 2011, Bishop Mike Watson announced that the Conference received an anonymous gift of $25,000 to fight world hunger. That gift become a challenge grant to Glisson for the purpose of establishing a Stop Hunger Now meal packing process during Glisson summer camp for 2011. In the process of deveoping this program, our campers have been able to gain an increased awareness of world hunger, as well as emphathy and compassion for the people who experience hunger each day, by actually packaging meals for hungry children in Uganda.
Because of this generous, anonymous gift, and additional gifts from Glisson donors, our campers were able to package a total of 107,600 meals this summer. These meals were sent to students of the Humble School in Uganda. For many of these students, the meals provided
| "Down Under" was transformed this summer into a dedicated meal-packing center for our Stop Hunger Now meal-packing process. At left, senior high village campers take a break from assembling meal packets to pose for a group photo on the 4th of July. At right, middle-high campers during week 8 in mid-July work on getting the measurements exactly right before sealing each meal packet. Rice is the last ingredient to go into the packets because each packet must be between 379 and 384 grams. The level of rice can ba adjusted to get the precise package weight without having to vary the amount of the nutritional ingredients such as dehydrated vegetables and soy protein. |
If Annual Conference delegates can do 200,000 meals in one day, why did it take Glisson two months to achieve 107,600 meals? Good question. While the nearly 3,000 delegates at Annual Conference 2010 were able to focus their energies into one concentrated effort, Glisson wove this activity in among the numerous daily activities of each Living Group all summer long. For example, while some Living Groups assembled meals on Tuesday morning of their camp week, others may have had their chance Thursday afternoon. We still wanted to make sure campers enjoyed what makes Glisson "Glisson" - such as creek hikes, singing-on-the-porch, chapel worship, campfires, challenge course, kayaking and swimming. We saw this as an opportunity to expand campers' horizons in a very meaningful way by adding to their experience.
