Tootsies to help hunger

An ambitious goal it is, admits the Rev. Mike Walerius, associate pastor of First Lutheran Church of Blooming Prairie.
Pastor Walerius said the goal of a Blooming Prairie community project is to pack 101,000 meals in two days and send them to the needy in all parts of the world. 
The work project will take place in the Luther Rooms of First Lutheran Church on May 10-11 of this year.
The program is most commonly known as Feed My Starving Children. The organization was founded in 1987 by a Minnesota businessman, the late Richard Proudfit. He said he was challenged by needs he saw on a mission trip to the Honduras in 1982.
FMSC is a Christian non-profit that provides nutritionally complete meals specifically formulated for malnourished children. Its mission is feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit.
Donations fund the meal ingredients and volunteers hand-pack the meals. The meals are donated to FMSC food partners around the world, where kids are fed and lives are saved.
Pastor Walerius and the Rev. Heidi Heimgartner, senior pastor at First Lutheran Church, became convinced after becoming involved in a local Feed My Starving Children project involving 10th grade confirmation students. The students were part of a group of 50 volunteers who packed 17,000 meals in two hours.
After seeing the spirited benefits of the First Lutheran confirmation students helping pack food in Eagan, Pastors Walerius and Heimgartner thought, "We should host one."
Walerius, who joined First Lutheran Church just last June, said he has been involved in the FMSC program at Trinity Lutheran Church and St. John's Lutheran Church, both located in Owatonna.
Interest was elevated to an all-time high with the pastors and confirmation students, thus planning began. The local project is called Blooming Prairie Feed My Starving Children Mobile Pack.
The community project will not only involve First Lutheran Church. It will also involve St. Columbanus Catholic Church, Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church and Holy Trinity Catholic Church of Litomysl.
Expanding the project into more than a church project, Walerius said the local schools and area businesses have also been asked to help FMSC.
In addition to the First Lutheran pastors, other members of the committee include Ruth Johnson, Cheri Krejci, Lindsey French, Michelle Southworth, Monica Anderson, Emily Heimer, Ron Kubista, Amy Staloch and Michelle Vigeland.
Friday, May 10 will be the set-up day for the project. A semi load of dry food will arrive on that day. A crew from the Twin Cities will set up the food lines.
Six to eight packing stations will then be created in the Luther Rooms for both days.
The dried food will consist of rice, dried vegetables and vitamins. The scientifically designed food is placed in mana packs and is aimed at malnourished children or people in poverty-stricken countries including Haiti, Tanzania and South America.  
Following the second packaging day on Saturday, the food will be completely ready to ship, says Pastor Walerius. He pointed out that 99.8 percent of the food goes to the people who need it.
"It goes to the poorest of the poor," he emphasized. Missionaries will then distribute the food to the recipients.
To undertake such a huge project takes financial support, $22,300 to be exact. That total equates to 20 cents a meal.
Already, fundraising has begun and prior to last Sunday's Super Bowl fundraiser, the committee had raised $7,800. Some of those funds came from the First Lutheran women's group. 
On Sunday, the FMSC committee sponsored a Super Bowl appetizer auction. Snack items were placed on a silent auction.
Walerius said the FMSC project has borrowed some of the successful fundraising ideas used by the First Lutheran Church Youth Gathering students who went to Houston, Texas last summer.
First Lutheran, Red Oak Grove and St. Columbanus will sell Tootsie Roll banks filled with candy and then asked to turn it into a bank receptacle. This drive started Feb. 3 and continues through March 3.
Another Youth Gathering successful fundraiser was a meat sale, coordinated with Geneva Meats. The Geneva Meats truck will be on site at First Lutheran Church on Sunday, March 17 and at St. Columbanus Catholic Church on Palm Sunday, April 14.
If those fundraisers are not enough, another is planned at the Pizza Ranch in Austin on Thursday, April 25. Volunteers will work from 4-9 p.m. and will earn a percentage of sales plus tips. Emily Heimer has helped coordinate this fundraiser.
"We are still looking for 400-450 volunteers to help with the actual packing of the food," Walerius said. Two-hour shifts will be arranged. 
Volunteers ages five and above are welcome. Walerius said his daughter Maddie, now 13, worked on a FMSC project when she was five and "loved the experience."
Each working shift will involve 60-70 people. A video will also be shown to volunteers before they begin their work. "This video will help people learn a lot about poverty and hunger," Walerius said.
Volunteers will be able to register online. More information on this process will be available at a later day.
Walerius said he is excited about the "flurry of activity" that will be present in Blooming Prairie on May 10-11. "I hope we will have decent weather on those days," he added.
"People in our community are so caring and generous so I believe we can accomplish our goals," said Walerius.