NLCS students help vulnerable kids with 'Feed the Need' packathon

EPHRATA – When the air horn first blared across the gym Thursday morning at New Life Christian School, dozens of young kids, teens and adults momentarily paused for a brief cheer and round of applause.

Then resumed their work.

By the end of the school day, the horn had sounded 42 times. Each blast signified that 42 cardboard boxes had been filled with 240 packaged, non-perishable food packets – 10,080 meals in all.

 “Each box can feed one child for a whole school year,” said Tami Cleveringa, Head of School at NLCS.

Some of the food packets – each containing rice, lentils, dehydrated vegetables, and a vitamin mix – will stay local for distribution to food banks in Ephrata and Soap Lake, said Cleveringa.

But she said many of the boxes would be shrink-wrapped and placed in a shipping crate for return to the Feed the Hunger Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit which distributes nutritious food supplies to families in need both domestically and overseas.

Through its supporters, the organization says it has provided over 30 million meals to help vulnerable children across the United States over the past decade.

Educators know: hungry bellies don’t listen and learn.

For New Life, this was the second year of participating in the “Feed the Need” program, with a portion of their meal supplies destined for the south Asian nation of Bangladesh, said Cleveringa.

Students at the school have raised over $54,000 in sponsorships, including many local donors.

Similar to a tithe, approximately 10% of all funds go to FTN for expenses “associated with this discipleship-oriented fundraiser,” said Cleveringa.

The organization then provides NCLS with the bulk commodities and necessary supplies to pack the meals, she said. Monies raised beyond that cost can go toward school expenses.

As the holidays approach, the school’s high-energy, production-line “packathon” served up a meaningful, hands-on way to serve others.