By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
In March, volunteers in Great Bend packed more than 51,000 meals for the Orphan Grain Train. Those meals, consisting of soy, rice, dehydrated vegetables, and enriched chicken flavoring were ultimately shipped overseas. Mark Ball with Lasting Life Ministries and Buzz Birney with Kingdom Campus are hosting another Mercy Meal event at Heartland Community Church in Great Bend on Saturday, Sept. 30. Coordinator Cindy Dayton said more volunteers are needed.
"The two sessions that are still open are 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.," she said. "It's only a volunteer job for about an hour and a half, so it's not a real big deal."
The goal this time is 81,000 meals, and those meals will largely stay local to feed the hungry in Great Bend. Six people can be fed with each prepared bag of food, so the goal is to make 13,500 bags that Birney will help distribute to those in need.
"We still need about 90 volunteers," Dayton said. "It takes almost 400 volunteers to do what we're going to do."
Volunteering to put together the meals has been a good team-building event in the past, with teams from the Great Bend Rec Center, Great Bend High School National Honor Society, and South African students from Barton Community College helping out. Dayton said players from the GBHS football team and BCC swim team have already signed up.
The event will take place from 9 a.m. to approximately 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, at Heartland Community Church, located at 4907 10th Street in Great Bend. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Dayton by calling (620) 639-1891, or Birney by calling (620) 397-3325.