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Local organizations join hurricane relief efforts
Posted: 9/9/05
by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, people across the country
are asking how they can help.
Two Eagan organizations are giving people a chance to get
involved in relief efforts, whether through donations or
volunteer work.
Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), a nonprofit,
non-denominational Christian organization with a facility in
Eagan, is seeking volunteers to help package nutritious
meals for those in need.
FMSC sends millions of meals each year to starving children
in countries like Haiti, Bolivia, Cambodia and Liberia.
But the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina prompted the
organization to reach out a little closer to home.
FMSC has already sent 142,560 meals to New Orleans, one of
the areas hardest hit by the storm.
Local volunteers packaged the meals, which were sent to
feeding stations being established on the Gulf Coast by
Operation Blessing, a partner of FMSC, and distributed by a
coalition of relief workers.
“The meals were originally intended for orphanages in
Central America as part of ongoing feeding programs there,
but when we saw the devastation from Katrina we needed to
react quickly,” said Mark Crea, Feed My Starving Children’s
executive director.
The shipment was sent from the Eagan facility Monday, Aug.
29 and diverted to New Orleans by Friday, he said.
“This first week of emergency stabilization is a crucial
time for the people struggling to find food and water,” he
said. “Our highly nutritious food is portable and easily
prepared. It’ll give hungry people what they need right now,
and give other relief organizations time to set up relief
efforts.”
Since 1994, FMSC has packaged 35 million nutritious meals
for distribution worldwide. The organization relies on
volunteers to put together and package the meals, which are
sent to on-site relief workers for distribution.
Each meal costs only 17 cents, and 94 percent of donations
go directly to the food program.
Because meals were diverted to the victims of the hurricane,
a replacement shipment from the organization’s emergency
supply will be sent to Central American soon, Crea said.
Volunteers are needed to pack meals to replenish the
emergency supply.
For more information or to volunteer or donate, visit
www.fmsc.org.
Eagan-based Cheerful Givers is also reaching out to
hurricane victims. Toys may not be the first thing people
think of in terms of relief efforts, but they can mean the
world to children who have lost everything, said Cheerful
Givers founder Karen Kitchel.
“There are so many people living in shelters, living in
churches,” she said. “In many cases, they lost everything
they owned. They don’t have anything to call their own.”
Cheerful Givers is a nonprofit organization that provides
toy-filled birthday gift bags for children living in poverty
in Minnesota. They are now looking to provide “care bags”
for displaced children in Louisiana ages 3 to 12 years old.
The bags will include toys, a stuffed animal, a book,
puzzles and games, she said.
The bags will not only provide children with entertainment,
but more importantly, they can provide security as children
move between temporary shelters.
“They need that message that they are important,” Kitchel
said. “Hopefully that will help them get through the really
difficult times they’re going to face.”
To donate or volunteer, visit www.cheerfulgivers.org.
The city of Eagan is also looking at ways to contribute to
the relief effort. The City Council is exploring options
such as deploying police officers and organizing a volunteer
committee to help aid specific communities.
Meanwhile, the city has posted links to state and federal
agency communications about relief activities on its Web
site, www.cityofeagan.com.
Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
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