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Oak Brook church works to feed starving kids
By Steve Schering Contributor February 13, 2012 10:26PM
JoAnn Favia knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday.
The Elmhurst resident gathered 50 of her closest friends and family members on Friday night, each donned a yellow shirt marking the occasion and all volunteered two hours of their time at Christ Church of Oak Brook to help pack food for needy children.
“My goal was to get 50 people together to do something for charity,” she said. “What better way to spend your 50th?”
Favia and her group were assisting Feed My Starving Children, an organization which assists in feeding hungry children in 70 countries worldwide. Five hundred volunteers, including Monroe School students and parents, gathered for six hours this weekend to pack 100,000 meals.
Volunteers worked three shifts over two days to measure and pack MannaPack Rice meals, which provide nutrients starving children need to survive. Each box contains 216 meals and the 13 pallets full of boxes will be sent overseas.
“Our church wanted to provide a service project opportunity for our members and people in our area,” said Missions Intern Stacey Rocque. “We want to feed those children physically and spiritually. We made the announcement to our congregation Dec. 17 and two weeks after the new year, we were full.
“Because of the demand and popularity, we’re definitely going to do it again and possibly double it.”
One family that couldn’t wait to help was the Irby family from Elmhurst. Jennifer, her husband, their three sons, two nephews, a cousin and her two children, mother and three friends signed up before the Dec. 17 announcement.
“I saw it on the Feed My Starving Children website,” Jennifer Irby said. “My brother and his family first volunteered for Boy Scouts and we are hooked.”
Irby and her family were volunteering for Feed My Starving Children for the fifth time this year and have even volunteered at the organization’s permanent facilities in Aurora and Schaumburg.
“It’s become very competitive,” Irby said. “They try to outdo the number of boxes they filled from the last time we did this.”
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