Greetings to all 5th Bridge Pledgers,

We hope you all had a bountiful and happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Last month, we told you about an exciting upcoming volunteer opportunity. 5th Bridge is hosting a mobile packing session of Feed My Starving Children, here in Northfield for the first time on December 7, 8 and 9. It’s not too late for you to get involved!

Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is an organization that provides humanitarian relief (food) to starving children around the world. Volunteers work in groups to package nutritionally complete meals that will then be sent to feed starving children in third world countries.

When 5th Bridge began the planning process for this volunteer event five weeks ago, we intended to recruit 500 volunteers to pack 100,000 meals, and raise $15,000 to cover the costs of the meals. An ambitious goal, we thought, for a first-time event. We began spreading the news, mostly by word of mouth, and we completely filled our volunteer time slots in just over a week. We heard that more people wanted to participate, so we expanded our goal to 150,000 meals. Earlier this week we were contacted by FMSC and asked if we could increase our production, as they currently have a shortage of packaged meals and are having trouble keeping up with the demand. So, on a leap of faith, here’s the plan:

Our goal: Recruit 1000+ volunteers to package 220,000 meals to feed starving children around the world and raise $30,000 to cover the costs of the ingredients so that the food can be provided free of cost to those children in dire need.

It’s not too late for you to be a part of this rewarding and worthwhile giving opportunity.

Give your time, and volunteer to help pack food. Families with children age 6 and up, groups, singles and couples are welcome to participate. Check the schedule on the 5th Bridge website, www.5thbridge.org, for volunteer openings. Walk-ins will be accommodated to the best of our abilities.

Give of your money… All participants will be asked to make a free-will donation to help cover the costs of the ingredients. If you are unable to participate, but would like to support this project financially, you can make your check payable to Feed My Starving Children and mail it to: 5th Bridge, 11 Bridge Square, Northfield, MN 55057. Feed My Starving Children is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, so your contributions will be tax-deductible, to the extent allowed by law. Feed My Starving Children is an efficient use of charitable dollars, as 95% of all contributions to FMSC go directly to support the food program.

You will find more information about this project and other rewarding volunteer opportunities on the 5th Bridge website, www.5thbridge.org.

Happy Holidays!

Candy Taylor and your friends at 5th Bridge

Here’s another holiday idea! Have fun, burn off some of those holiday calories and help raise money for the Service Learning Program at the High School, by participating in the Jingle Bell Run on December 15. For more details, visit www.jinglebellrunwalk.org or call 507-645-8887.