Haiti Mission Trip / See KCCI-TV News reports this week – Meals from the Heartland!

A small group of Central Iowans representing Meals from the Heartland arrived back from their 6 day trip to Haiti at midnight this past Saturday. You can see stories of their experiences on KCCI News Channel 8 this Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Port au Prince, Haiti looked worse than a war zone with thousands of building collapsed. This capital city has an area of just 15 square miles with a dense population of well-over 2 million people (compared to the Des Moines with 75 square miles and population of 200,000). It was already the poorest city and country in the western hemisphere, and the earthquake caused damage beyond imagination. Tent cities and make-shift shacks for houses were everywhere.

The mission team also visited areas Grand Goâve and Pignon. Grand Goâve, a city 30 miles west of Port au Prince, was 90% destroyed by the earthquake. All public buildings were destroyed, including the schools, city hall, and police station. The team visited and stayed at Lifeline Christian Ministries, an organization that has been in Grand Goâve for 30 years, and is a leader in the community through its Christian outreach, school, medical clinic and food aid support. Pignon, located 57 miles north of Port au Prince in the northern central plateau of the country, is a city of some 30,000 people. There an organization supports a hospital, Christian school, builds housing and provides food aide support. More stories and details to follow…

To date Meals from the Heartland has shipped more than 6 million meals in food-aid assistance to Haiti, including over 2 million meals just since the January 12 earthquake and MftH’s “Help for Haiti” emergency relief efforts began. More than 500,000 more meals will be shipped in the next few days to further assist with relief efforts.

The Haitians are still afraid of what lies ahead as a result of the earthquake (there was a 4.5 tremor while the MftH group was there).  As expected, the need to support Haiti has increased as the first-wave of support has diminished.

All were humbled throughout the trip, and hearts broke many times.

While devastation and poverty was beyond imagination, there is HOPE!

Blessings,
Meals from the Heartland Team

---

WATCH KCCI TV for mission trip coverage:

As many of you know, KCCI (channel 8 ) is the Meals from the Heartland media partner.  Reporter Eric Hanson and photojournalist Dan Bolsem accompanied the team on their trip.  Their report will be aired this Wednesday and Thursday at 10 p.m., as well as a special report airing on Friday night on a girls basketball clinic in Haiti held by Drake Basketball Coach Amy Stephens and Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield-Clubb.

---

REMINDER: Meals from the Heartland Fall Event at Hy-Vee Hall:

Dates for this year’s event at Hy-Vee Hall are scheduled for September 2-5. Please consider supporting our fall event through praying, serving and giving. We especially need leaders in churches and businesses who can help raise money to fund food ingredients needed for this year. Please connect online at mealsfromtheheartland.org to learn more.  We will be opening our website for sign ups in late July, so please watch for more information.

Your Generosity Continues To Feed Hungry Kids!

We’ve received more news from Haiti and our partners at Lifeline Christian Mission that Meals from the Heartland food packages are still helping kids in Haiti. The following is an excerpt from a recent Lifeline newsletter out of Haiti:

Food Distributions
Lifeline’s supply of food to distribute to the people in the tent cities (Relief Distribution) has now dwindled to the “Kids Food” that we receive from Kids Against Hunger, Impact Lives, Outreach International and Meals From The Heartland.  The other foods that were being shipped in have stopped coming (those from large organizations like World Food Program, etc.).

I am seeing better health in the kids that daily receive the hot meals through Lifeline, but there is no shortage of people coming to clinic who are in desperate need.  We continue to see many malnourished elderly, women, children and infants.

Thank you for your continued support of Meals from the Heartland! Without your time, donations and prayers, we wouldn’t be making such a difference!

Blessings,
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Packaging Volunteers Needed In Pella!

We hope you had a blessed Easter! We wanted to share with you a great packaging opportunity that will be taking place on Saturday, April 17 in Pella.

Pella Meals from the Heartland food packaging event is scheduled for April 17th at the Vermeer Global Pavilion in Pella, IA, from 8 am to 5 pm.  The Pella Volunteer Committee organizing the event expects to have a great turnout and would like to invite you to join them!

Here are some key facts and dates to keep in mind…

1) A team is generally 10 individuals, age 5 to 105.  Teams are asked to sign-up for a 2 hour time slot.  The time slots will begin at 8 and 8:30, 10 and 10:30, 12 and 12:30, 2 and 2:30, and 4 and 4:30.

2) If you are signing up teams with small children, please ensure that you have 1 adult as a part of the team for every 2 children.

Sign up by visiting: www.iowatelecom.net/pellameals and click on the link to volunteer or signup teams to package meals

Central Iowa’s support of earthquake relief in Haiti is making a difference. On Monday,  2 million meals were delivered to Florida where Lifeline Christian Ministries, Food For The Poor and Fellowship of Christian Farmers will ship the meals to Haiti for distribution to schools, orphanages, mission programs and other organizations.

The Pella event will be a part of helping us reach our goal of supplying more than 2.5 million meals to Haiti for earthquake relief.

Thanks again for your support of Meals from the Heartland!

Blessings!
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Isaiah 58:10 “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.”

Volunteers Pour In To Package Thousands of Meals For Haiti

The week-long Help for Haiti food packaging event started strong today with 1,227 volunteers showing up to package between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m.! During the first four hours of packaging this morning, volunteers assembled 213,840 meals that will be shipped to Haiti’s earthquake victims.

WHO Radio’s Van and Bonnie show broadcast live from Lutheran Church of Hope during the 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift while volunteers packaged the meals containing rice, vitamins, soy protein and dried vegetables.

More than 5,900 volunteers have registered to package meals throughout the week working toward our goal of packaging 2 million meals for Haitians. Originally, we were hoping to raise enough in donations to fund 300,000 meals. In just five weeks, individuals, churches, schools and businesses have raised enough funds to purchase the raw ingredients for volunteers to package as many as 2 million meals!

If you are still interested in volunteering, there are still open spots for host volunteers. Click here to learn more about host volunteering and available shifts.

We cannot thank you enough for all of your encouragement and support as we work to feed the hungry! God bless!

Haiti Relief Pours In

Meals from the Heartland has had the honor, over the last couple years, to have truly humbling support form our community as well as the local and national media.  As we come closer to the Help for Haiti packaging event on February 22nd, we’re seeing interest and commitments growing at an outstanding pace.

In just 30 days we have surpassed our goal of raising funding to package 300,000 meals for those suffering from the Haiti earthquakes to six times that.  YES! Thanks to our volunteers and Meals from the Heartland, the Help for Haiti event will be able to package 1.9 million meals!

Here is some of the media coverage from the local CBS affiliate, KCCI, that talks about Help for Haiti and the strides we have made in accomplishing this feat.

While Meals from the Heartland has worked hard in getting the word out, we do want to thank those that have helped with personal efforts.  We have seen everything from schools and social clubs to churches as well as our voice carried through social media to get the masses educated and motivated.  We can’t thank you enough.

Remember, the event is less than a week away and we could still use donations and volunteers.  To donate, please click here and submit your information.  If you would like to set up a team to package next week, please click here.

Thank you so much for your effort and your generosity.

God Bless!
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Help for Haiti – Details Coming Soon

We are in the process of finalizing the details for the February 22 Help for Haiti packaging event, and are overwhelmed and thankful for the outpouring of concern and interest in volunteering. We will soon be opening up registration for volunteers on the Web site. In the meantime, here is what we know:

* The Help for Haiti packaging event will take place during the week of February 22
* During that week we will package as many meals as funds allow
* Packaging will take place at the Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines
* Teams of 8-10 individuals will work in 1-hour shifts to package the meals
* Once completed, meals will be shipped to Haiti as soon as possible for those affected by the earthquakes

PLEASE REMEMBER: We are overjoyed with the overwhelming response of people who would like to volunteer. The number of meals packaged will depend completely on funding we receive until then. If you are interested in donating to Meals from the Heartland, below are some ways you can help:

* Donate here online. Remember, one meal costs just 15 cents, so $50 feeds 333 hungry children
* “Scan Away Hunger” and donate $1, $5 or $10 when you purchase your groceries at any Fareway store
* Attend “Hearts for Haiti” this Friday, February 5, where all proceeds go toward packaging meals for Haiti. You can get more details here.

We will continue to update the blog with information concerning the event as information becomes available to us. We are forever grateful for your interest and commitment to Meals from the Heartland and look forward to your help as we provide Help for Haiti.

Community & Business Leaders Join to “Scan Away Hunger”

KCCI and Fareway have partnered with Meals from the Heartland to “Scan Away Hunger.” Starting immediately, when you purchase your groceries at any Fareway store you can ask for a card to be scanned that will allow you to donate $1, $5 or $10 toward the Help for Haiti efforts. We are grateful to have KCCI and Fareway helping us.

Help Provided By Iowa Meals…

We know that everyone is seeing and hearing heartbreaking stories through national media. Following are two stories of how the earthquake has impacted groups we support, and how Meals from the Heartland meals have been used to feed those in need.

Joy In Hope:

Following is an email received on Saturday night from a missionary with Joy In Hope, a non-profit organization dedicated solely to working in Haiti, that received some of the food we packaged last fall.

“My name is Leann Pye and I am a missionary living in Jacmel, Haiti.  In December we were given about 100 boxes of food from your organization.  We were planning on using it towards VBS and a soccer tournament we had planned. However, as you know, an earthquake devastated many parts of Haiti.  Jacmel is one town that has been hit hard. The road from Jacmel to Port-au-Prince is impassible with cars, tap-taps, and trucks. There are no supplies coming in and we don’t know when the road will be fixed. We have been able to feed hundreds of people daily since the earthquake because of your food. I can’t express my gratitude enough.  May God bless you and your ministry.”

In a separate email that followed, Leann wrote:

“Please communicate to your supporters that Jacmel is one area that has been greatly affected by your food. We don’t know where we would be without it. Thank you and God Bless!”

Food for the Poor:

Food for Poor, based in Miami, is one of the groups we partner with to place meals throughout the world. Leann Chong, a member of their staff that we have been working with, was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. She was trapped in her hotel for 17 hours before being rescued, but was able to return to Florida on Monday (with leg and other minor injuries).  The Food for the Poor warehouse and feeding center in Haiti was damaged, but reopened Monday and was able to serve over 20,000 meals on its first day. Due to damage of Haiti’s port, Food for the Poor is currently directing shipments to the Dominic Republic, and is transporting food to Haiti by land.

Please check back often for additional stories of how Meals from the Heartland’s efforts are helping!

Making a Difference in Haiti

Thanks to you, Meals from the Heartland is making a difference in the lives of many people currently struggling in Haiti. More than two million meals were shipped to Haiti after our fall packaging event, and they are feeding people every day. I hope that you will take a minute to read the stories in the following posts to see how meals packaged by Iowans are being used to feed starving Haitians.

We are in the process of organizing a special Haiti food packaging event to be held in February. Funds are currently being raised so we can order ingredients and supplies to package and ship as much food as possible. We’ve received overwhelming response from people hoping to package meals – but please remember the amount of meals we can package depends entirely on how much money we raise to purchase ingredients. To put it into perspective: a $50 contribution will provide 300 meals, or enough food for 10 children for one month!

We will soon begin asking volunteers to sign up for packaging planned to start on February 22 at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, and possibly other locations. Please continue to monitor our Web site for further details. If you were a team lead last fall, we may not have all of your team members’ email addresses. Please feel free to forward this post on to your teammates who helped package or friends and family to help us spread the word.

God Bless!
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Help For Haiti – Pray, Give, Serve

Help for Haiti

Our hearts are hurting for the people of Haiti. The earthquake and aftershocks have created devastation beyond our imagination. The loss of life is staggering, thousands remain unaccounted for, and hundreds of thousands need medical care, water and food.  They are at risk and in trouble, and their road to recover will be long.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. It is a country of 9 million people that geographically is slightly smaller that the state of Maryland.

Nearly 2 million of the meals packaged at last fall’s Meals from the Heartland were shipped to Haiti and distributed through two partners, Lifeline Christian Ministries and Food for the Poor.

What can we do… what can you do… to provide Help for Haiti?

Please pray, give and serve as Meals from the Heartland is turning all available resources to helping the people of Haiti.

Pray:

Pray for God’s comfort and love to bless the people of Haiti, that help would quickly come from around the world to help those in need, and that He would touch each of our hearts to know what we can do to help.

We are receiving emails from those in Haiti… following are excerpts from two:

“PLEASE PRAY: So many lives lost, so much suffering, so much devastation, and so much that is hard to understand. Yet in my 20 years in Haiti, I have learned that the Haitian people are resilient and although they have not seen this kind of destruction before they will rise above it. Today’s struggle is to provide water and food for the kids and to keep ourselves strong and not allow fear or discouragement to creep in.  “

“We don’t have supplies to treat all the people…they are coming here in large numbers with broken limbs and severe wounds… a man and woman came to me and said their little boy’s arm was cut off in their home when the wall collapsed.  He is 18 months old and all he had of a right arm was a stub above the elbow.  I had to dress it and use duct tape for a pressure bandage as that is all we have and then I gave him some sleeping medicine.”

Give:

Consider giving to Meals from the Heartland or another organization that you trust. Please see links for two of our partners below, Lifeline Christian Ministries and Food for the Poor.  There are many others who are providing emergency aid, including Red Cross and the Salvation Army. It is not important where you give, but that you do.

If you choose to make a financial contribution to Meals from the Heartland, your gift will go towards the purchase of food ingredients that will be packaged and shipped to Haiti as quickly as possible (please see “Serve” below), as Meals from the Heartland is diverting all of its resources to Help for Haiti. Nearly 300,000 meals of packaged food in storage are being redirected immediately, with transportation expected via a US C-130 cargo plane scheduled for Des Moines.

Serve:

Based on contributions received between now and February 22nd, your gift will support local efforts to package food that week.  Meals from the Heartland is partnering with Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines to package as much food as possible the week of February 22nd to send to Haiti. Watch for additional posts or please check backfor details on how you can sign-up to volunteer to package food.

Please remember, we are only able to package and ship food to Haiti that we purchase in advance, so your tax-deductible gift is important.

Please pray, give and serve…
Thank you!

God bless,
Meals from the Heartland Team

PS: Following are two Meals from the Heartland partner organizations who are recipients of food we have donated to Haiti… Lifeline Christian Ministries: www.Lifeline.org; Food for the Poor: www.foodforthepoor.org

Isaiah 58:10 “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.  Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.”