CityView Magazine

56 | October 2017 saw meals being delivered that had been packaged in Fayetteville. ey knew that because the meals were marked First Presbyterian Fayetteville. "It's that a-ha moment," Noland said. "ey actually made it!" How does it work? Via an assembly line that Henry Ford would be proud of, Noland said. Parked beside hot cups of coffee, adults scoop into bags enough rice, soy protein, dried vegetables and vitamins to feed six people. e bags are weighed by beaming children, then heat-sealed by adults and stacked into giant boxes. Aer every 1,000 meals packed, a large gong sounds to celebrate. irty thousand meals are usually packed in two to three hours and the effort is generally wrapped up before lunch.. What would you tell your volunteers? "ank you for caring enough to help others, and for doing it willingly and cheerfully," Noland said. Garrett and Noland said everyone in the First Presbyterian Church family – from adults to giggly children to the custodians who clean up aerwards – is key to the meal-packaging efforts. And they're all greatly appreciated. How can I help? Come and lend a hand. A few hours of your time can change the world. "Regardless of where you're coming from, what religion, you can work comfortably with us on a shared goal," Garrett said. e next meal-packaging event is October 28th at 9 a.m. in the church's fellowship hall. Just show up! First Presbyterian Church is at 102 Ann Street in downtown Fayetteville. For more information, call 910-483- 0121. better feed themselves. Noland said it's "teaching a man to fish and not just giving him a fish." e meal-packaging efforts aren't just one-way gis. For the historic church, founded in 1800, the efforts are an opportunity for fellowship among members of all ages. "It's a real uniting event and we love to be a part of that," said senior pastor Michael Garrett. Children are encouraged to help. e experience has an obvious and positive impact on the young ones, said Britany Spivey, director of the children's ministry at First Presbyterian. She said the children bubble with excitement when asked to describe their jobs at the packaging event – as well as the fun they had building forts from leover boxes. It also has an effect on the adult volunteers. "With a lot of mission work that people do, most of their involvement is not more than writing a check," said Jonathan West, the church's associate pastor for youth and young adult ministry. e meal packaging provides a more hands-on experience. "It's a tangible way of giving," West said. e church welcomes volunteers from outside its congregation. Noland said representatives from other churches sometimes come to see how to mount similar packaging efforts at their churches. Where exactly do these meals go? All over the world. Following the tsunami in Haiti, the church quickly pumped out meal packs that could be provided to devastated families. Noland said the church trusts Rise Against Hunger to pick locations that need such help. "Our strategic partners know where meals need to go," he said. "When there is a disaster, they have the resources to get a million meals there in days." Once, when church members were doing missionary work in Haiti, they Since 2010, the church has packaged over 750,000 meals of rice, soy protein, dried vegetables and vitamins for Rise Against Hunger.

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