Eleventh birthdays are usually celebrated with cake and candles. But Senior Varsha Ravi chose something different: to feed the hungry.
“Feed My Starving Children is close to my heart. I started volunteering in sixth grade through my Sunday school and even celebrated my birthday there,” Ravi said.
She first started her club “Feed My Starving Children,” or FMSC, in her freshman year as an advocate for the non-profit organization of the same name.
“Since our start in 1987, FMSC has shipped over 4 billion meals,” FMSC Regional Development Advisor Ed Johnson said. “Last year alone, we shipped food to nearly 60 countries through about 200 partner organizations, which, in turn, reached thousands of communities.”
Through her club, Ravi has hosted numerous events in support of FMSC. This year, Ravi has set her sights even higher through her mobile pack event that will be hosted at at the high school. The event aims to earn $30,000 in donations, which will be used to make over 100,000 meals.
“[The mobile pack] is a one-day event where we aim to pack at least 100,000 meals. There’s two to three volunteer shifts during the day, and we need around 500 volunteers to work them. It’s essentially replicating what you’d do at an FMSC packing facility, but on a larger scale at a place of your choice,” Ravi said.
FMSC has facilities across the country, including a Dallas-based facility in Irving. The organization is always looking for volunteers to make meals, and accepts help from children as young as five.
“What the volunteers do is take bulk ingredients and, in kind of an assembly line fashion, scoop them into a bag and seal them. Each bag holds six meals,” Johnson said. “Really, anyone can do it.”
The meals packed by FMSC are not the typical lunch bags with granola bars or sandwiches. Instead, meals actually consist of rice, plant-based soy, dehydrated vegetables, and then a vitamin blend with over 20 different vitamins aimed at fighting extreme malnutrition.
“They help these kids go from being severely undernourished to having full stomachs, allowing them to focus on school and being healthy rather than worrying about where their next meal will come from,” Ravi said.
Unlike a lot of other charities, children helped by FMSC receive meals for a whole year instead of just one day.
“The goal is 101,800 meals, which is expected to feed around 1,000 kids not just for one day, but for an entire year,” Ravi said.
Hosting an event like this is no small feat. Typically they are hosted by older kids, such as college students, or larger organizations like businesses.
“To be honest, I tried to talk her out of it—it’s a lot of work. My job is to find people who understand what we do and are willing to help lead an effort,” Johnson Said. “We ask MobilePack hosts to do three things: fundraise to cover the grocery bill, recruit at least 400 volunteers, and secure a venue suitable for the event.”
The event isn’t for a few months, but Ravi already has donations and volunteer signup available through her recently opened web page.
“We’ve raised about $8,000 to $10,000 so far. Now that we have the platform set up, we’re ramping up efforts. We’re reaching out to sponsors, using social media and announcements, and talking to groups like the Dad’s Club and NHS to get more support,” Ravi said.
Ravi hopes to get the entire community involved and make a lasting impact, to not just host a Mobile Pack this year, but have it as an annual event.
“Varsha is hard to resist. She is very dedicated and committed to her project. I know that she’s hardworking and with that hard work she will create an immensely successful event,” Club sponsor Kristen Cordes said.
The event is on February 16th, lasting all day. They are looking for hundreds of volunteers, and their signup is available at give.fmsc.org.
“Living in Highland Park, we’re incredibly blessed. Hosting this mobile pack gives our community a fun, but impactful way to give back and address global hunger,” Ravi said.
