CPC-Dulles Members Join Community to Address Hunger

Church members and residents place dehydrated vegetables, soy and rice into bags before they get sealed, packaged, then stacked on a pallet ready for shipment.

Within about two hours, members from Community Praise Center-Dulles (Va.) worked with the community to pack 11,200 meals. Working in small teams, the group of 45 packed enough food to save nearly 1,200 lives. Their efforts were a response to learning that one person dies from starvation every three seconds, 20 per minute, 1,200 per hour and 28,800 per day.

Story by Potomac Conference Communication Staff

CPC-Dulles Members Join Community to Address Hunger 

Within about two hours, members from Potomac Conference's Community Praise Center-Dulles (Va.) worked with the community to pack 11,200 meals. Working in small teams, the group of 45 packed enough food to save nearly 1,200 lives. Their efforts were a response to learning that one person dies from starvation every three seconds, 20 per minute, 1,200 per hour and 28,800 per day.

With financial support from the Potomac Conference evangelism fund, the Dulles congregation partnered with Stop Hunger Now, a nonprofit organization focused on ending hunger, to pay for the bulk supplies needed for each meal bag. They then prepped the raw materials into bags, sealed, packaged and stacked them on a pallet ready for shipment. During May and June, the meals were sent around the world to save others from starvation. With proper care, each bag can last more two years and be ready to feed six people when opened and reconstituted.

Church members invited the community to participate in the packing. After the event, one participant, a homeless man who has been attending the church, said, “The church has given so much to help me out; I wanted to do this to give back.”

Elaine Kapetanakis, a member of the church’s outreach team, explains, “Our goal here is that 51 percent of everything we do will be community outreach/based. When we have a program for our members, we have a program for the community.”