Feeding the Hungry: Meals Packaged in Aston Help to Alleviate World Hunger

On Sunday, March 24, our sisters were well represented at the 2018 Rise Against Hunger action held at the Aston Community Center. The gathering was done in conjunction with members of other church groups in the Aston area. Rise Against Hunger is “an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable.” Each meal packet contains micronutrients such as enriched rice, soy protein, dried vegetables, and a packet of 23 essential vitamins and nutrients.

Tables were all prepared for the volunteers to begin work.

Srs. Jean Ustasiewski, Edythe Norman, Margaret O’Brien, Kathleen Swan, and I together with our two African sisters, Srs. Faith Ngugi and Catherine Ndambiri who live at OLA and study an Neumann University, gathered with members of other Aston-area churches at the Aston Community Center. We were joined by former employee Jerome Burton and his wife Leigh and administrative assistant Susanna Monteleone.

All set to begin: (l-r) Leigh Burton, Sr. Jean Ustasiewski, Jerome Burton, Sr. Margaret O'Brien, Sr. Kathleen Swan.

Tables were set up when we arrived. The process was highly organized. A tall yellow funnel stood in the center of many of the tables. Surrounding it were four bins of varying sizes containing packets of vitamins, soy, dried vegetables, and rice. On one side of the funnel were small plastic bags and on the other side medium-sized plastic bins.

At 9 o’clock the process was explained and we received the signal to begin. At our table a young woman named Michele began the process by putting a packet of vitamins into one of the plastic bags. Jerome attached the bag to the bottom of the funnel and, in rapid succession, Jean added a cup of soy, I added a scoop of dried veggies, and Margaret added a cup of rice. Jerome set the bag carefully into one of the bins and we began with the next bag. When the bin held eight bags, Jerome called for a runner who took the bin to a different table where each bag was weighed. We eventually got an additional helper who alternated with Jerome keeping the funnel going. With the extra help, we were constantly calling for more bins—keeping the runners very busy!

Busy at work: Susanna Monteleone, Jerome Burton, Sr. Margaret O'Brien, Sr. Jean Ustasiewski, and the young women working with vitamins and funnel.

The last stop for each bag was the table where they were stapled shut. Edythe was part of this team. Other members of our team worked at other tables carrying out the same tasks and Susanna eventually relieved me. An accurate count of bags –each a complete meal—was kept. Every time we reached 2,000 meals a gong was sounded. By 10 o’clock we knew we had reached—and passed—our goal when we heard the final gong and a voice called out, “22,000 meals”!

Ready to head home after a successful morning: Kneeling: Srs. Faith Ngugi, Catherine Ndambiri; Middle Row: Srs. Edythe Norman, Margaret O'Brien, Kathleen Swann, Susanna Monteleone; Back Row: Jerome Burton, Leigh Burton, Sr. Ann Marie Slavin