A Village Rises

Rise Against Hunger Community Service Project

Village school students, parents and staff came together on March 7th to ‘Rise Against Hunger.’ This is the second year that Village School has participated in this wonderful all-school, hands-on volunteer global service project. Students, parents and teachers raised money to pack 16,000 meals, which will be distributed to communities in need in Southeast Asia.

Here are some fun facts:

• Students and their families raised over $4,600. (The initial goal of raising enough money to pack 10,000 meals was greatly surpassed!)
• Each meal cost $0.29. (With a $4,600 fundraising total, we were able to purchase enough food for 16,000 meals!)
• Reading buddies worked side-by-side to fill, seal and package bags. Each bag contained soy protein, dehydrated vegetables, a vitamin pack and rice — enough for 6 meals.
• Each sealed bag contains soy protein, dehydrated vegetables, one vitamin pack and rice — enough for 6 meals.
• 36 bags (or 216 meals) were packed into each cardboard box. As a school, we packed 74 boxes of food!
• After every 500 meals packed, students rang a gong and everyone cheered or danced in celebration.
• Students packaged 16,000 meals, all before lunch time! They made memories, working together tirelessly, dancing and singing along to the fun, upbeat music!
• The food we packaged will be sent from Rise Against Hunger’s west coast facility to Southeast Asia. Representatives said they will notify our school with the exact shipment destination once it has shipped. Last year, meals were sent to the Children of Vietnam organization.
• The truck, packed full of nutrition and sustenance, drove honking through the Village parking lot and alongside the courtyard, garden and fields at the end of lunch recess, bidding a final adieu to the waving students.
• Sons of Norway, the organization that meets at Nordahl Hall (with Viking property management, who run the Hall) gave us the use of the space, rent-free (usually at least $250)!!
• Green hair nets rock!!

Thank you to all the families for your support of bringing this program to Village with your generous donations.

Thank you to all the parent volunteers — from the early set up crew to the parent who brought muffins for volunteers, from those who packed meals alongside the kids to those who lifted the heavy rice and soy bags to replenish ingredients, and from photographer, to the clean up crew who helped to make the event run smoothly.

Thank you to our teachers who supported this event and used this as an additional learning experience, whether for math, social studies (global health issues, cultural awareness), reflective writing or for emphasizing how children CAN make a difference.

Thank you to David, Becky, and Michelle, and all the staff for their support. Thank you to Fred who came over without hesitation with his backpack vacuum for the final clean up!

Thank you to Mary I. and family, and Aine O. for bringing this program to Village School, and to Mandy U. for her amazing help coordinating the event this year. 

Thank you to every student at Village for packing the meals with a fun attitude while dancing away. Whether you raised donations or just told someone about Rise Against Hunger, you inspired people to learn more, and YOU made a difference in the world.

Reflections from Student Bloggers

Rise Against Hunger

Today the class went to the rescue! We put on some gloves and hairnets, and started packaging! First, we put a small bag of vitamins inside the bag. Then we put in some soy, next something healthy, and finally, we put in the rice. We passed the bag to the measuring station. At the measuring station, we put the bags on a scale, and had to make sure that the weight of the bag was between 389-394 pounds. And lastly we passed the bag down to the final station, sealing. There was a big machine that looked like a stapler. We pushed on it to seal the bag. We gave it to the people who put the sticker, that said when it expired. They put it into the box. We did that again and again, until we had 500 boxes. Every time there were 500 boxes, somebody, (every time someone new) hit a big bell called the kong. That is how we stopped hunger.

We Went to Rise Against Hunger!

Today we went to rise against hunger! They used to be stop hunger now but they changed. First we put on hair nets than we sanitized and started packing! First we put in a vitamin package than we put in SOY than we put in VEGGIES than RICE and we weighed we need to have the package weigh between 389-394 and if it’s less than we put in some more rice if it’s to heavy than we take some rice out. Than onto the sealing we put it into this machine that seals it. Than we put a sticker that said when it expired. And we packaged them into a box that can hold 36 packages. I had so much fun!