Packathon Food Project in Cooperation with New Directions International
Our club cooperated with NDI for the second time this year to pack food for the hungry in Bangladesh. Joseph Williams, NDI's CEO and pictured far left, is a member of our club. Since NDI has been partnering with indigenous ministries who have integrity for many years, we can feel sure that this food will get to the people who need it most. Joseph contributed the next paragraph.
Thanks to all of you from Rotary who came out and helped Feed the Hunger pack meals. We just exceeded our goal of preparing 200,000 meals, which will feed 548 at-risk children one nutritious meal a day for a year. This food will be put on our first container to Bangladesh, which is one of the world's 50 poorest countries according to the United Nations (as is Haiti where the food from the first Pack-A-Thon went). I will be in Bangladesh in early March with a team. It should clear customs by then; so, our team plans to participate in food distribution with our partner there. In regards to the event, 900 volunteers worked in six shifts over three days. They came from as far east as Raleigh, west as High Point, and south as Aiken, SC.
Rotary is committed to using its resources to help locally and internationally in the following six areas:
1. Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
2. Disease prevention and treatment
3. Water and sanitation
4. Maternal and child health
5. Basic education and literacy
6. Economic and community development
It is easy to see that this project conforms to at least two areas of focus: disease prevention and child health. The Rotary Club of Alamance contributed $1000 to help purchase the food for this project, which is the second on which we have partnered with NDI this year.
Those representing our club at the event, who are pictured above are from left to right, are as follows: Joseph Williams, Sang Ho Lee, Brad Moser, Julian Griffin, Pam Duffy, John Beshel, Sammy Ballard, Frank Longest, Carolyn Rhode, Cassie Tosczak, Tom Manning, Jamie Killorin, and Andres Valencia.
The
ACC Rotaract also participated in this project on Friday. In all they
packed enough meals to feed 81 children for a year. Below are some
pictures of the group. Check out the cool T-Shirts! Guerry
Stirling-Willis is the faculty advisor.
Thanks to all who helped to make this
happen, especially to Sang Ho Lee and the Club Projects Committee.