10,000 meals

FLORIDA — On March 15, 60 students and 20 adults - parishioners of St. Joseph’s Church in the Village of Florida - packaged 10,000 meals to feed the hungry people of Burkina Faso in West Africa.

The program known as “Helping Hands” is run by Catholic Relief Services in conjunction with the Stop Hunger Now organization.

As part of their preparation to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, the seventh- and eighth-grade religious education students had to raise $5,000 to pay for the food and shipping of the meals to Burkina Faso, a land-lock nation formerly known as the Republic of Upper Volta. The country has one of the lowest gross domestic products (GDP) per capita figures in the world at $1,200

With the support of the pastor, the Rev. Joseph Tokarcyzk, and their religious education coordinator, Dorothy Buchalski, the students presented their project to the congregation by speaking at all the masses.

The majority of the $5,000 was raised by the donations from parishioners of St. Joseph’s Church. The students raised the additional funds by holding a teddy bear sale and a pasta dinner.

On the evening of the event, 60 students and 20 adults gathered at St. Joseph’s School to prepare and package the meals. The evening started with a prayer service led by a representative from Catholic Relief Services. The volunteers were then instructed in how to prepare the meals consisting of soy protein, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins and rice.

Each meal was then weighed, sealed and boxed for shipment with a special label indicating the gift from St. Joseph’s Religious Education program.