Local volunteers prepare over 80,000 meals for the less fortunate

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — As church service bells rang at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, instead of making their way home, many from the local congregation gathered to serve those in need.

Walking into the Family Center gymnasium, 400 volunteers put on aprons and hair nets to get to prepare family sized meal kits.

Chanting one, two, three, four, the volunteers poured the main four ingredients into gallon sized bags before heat sealing them for shipping.

An event sponsor from Mercy Meals of Lincoln, Kathy Carter, said the dish starts out vegan-friendly but can be modified to fit certain cultural needs.

“Each bag has one cup of soy flakes, one cup of rice, a full heaping tablespoon of vegetable, and a leveled tablespoon of vitamins,” she said.

Carter said when families receive the kits the only ingredient that needs to be added is six cups of water which will turn it into six helpings of a rice-based meal.

Once finished, the meals are packed in boxes and loaded onto a semi provided by Orphan Grain Train, who will distribute the meals to around 70 different countries.

Carter said by the end of Sunday the volunteers managed to bag 81,648 meals.