St. Elizabeth Ann Seton students participated in packaging meals for malnourished and starving children on Friday, Sept. 20, in the parish’s Bishop Ronald Gilmore Hall. Each station contained boxes of vitamin powder, dried vegetables, vegetable protein, and rice. Volunteers funneled the measured ingredients into plastic packages, which were then weighed, sealed, and boxed.

Approximately 1,100 volunteers packaged a total of 163,296 meals from Wednesday to Saturday, Sept. 18-21 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Wichita. These meals are sufficient to feed 447 malnourished children for a year.

The event marked the third year Pam and Steve Gardner have organized the Feed My Starving Children packaging event at SEAS parish. The Gardners began volunteering for the non-profit Christian organization while living in Florida and later introduced the initiative to Wichita.

Pam Gardner shared how they got started: “It was just a business plan. We met with the priest and talked about it,” she said. “He said, ‘Just go for it!’ That’s how it happened.”

She explained that MobilePack 2024 at SEAS parish aimed to give back to the world: “Our team has been fantastic in helping us – we have 12 on our team. We pull them in at different times. They all have their area of expertise and they pretty much run independently,” she said.

Looking ahead to next year’s event, Pam Gardner mentioned seeking assistance for MobilePack 2025: “We’re looking at how we might do this differently – have a fundraiser to take care of funds or find a sponsor,” she said. “We’ll be working on getting that for next year. Steve and I are all in for managing it…but we want to make sure those kids get fed another year.”

Ed Johnson, Regional Development advisor for Feed My Starving Children, highlighted that the organization aims to ship 400 million meals this year. The food is designed with a special vitamin formula alongside dehydrated vegetables, plant-based protein, and rice.

The packaging event at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish was one of over 250 mobile events hosted by Feed My Starving Children this year. The organization also operates brick-and-mortar facilities across four states where volunteers can pack meals up to six days a week.

Last year's packaged meals from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton were sent to the Dominican Republic among other countries needing aid. Meals reached around 60 countries last year primarily in South America and Africa according to Johnson.

This year's volunteers included fourth through eighth graders from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School as well as middle school students from St. Mary School in Derby, Newman University students, employees of the Chancery office, and persons with special needs.

For more information or donations visit give.fmsc.org/wichita.