Crossings’ Pack-a-thon 

With the goal of feeding half a million hungry kids, Crossings Community Church is changing lives one meal at a time. Its fourth annual Feed the Hunger Pack-a-thon aims to pack 500,000 meals in one week for malnourished children in Bangladesh. Meals packed during the event will ship across the world to schools, orphanages, refugee camps, and safe houses and will feed 2,084 malnourished children for an entire year. Pack-a-thon events will take place at all four Crossings locations plus two correctional facilities in July.

Crossings will partner with the North Carolina-based Feed the Hunger organization for the fourth year in a row, raising their goal to 500,000, up from 300,000 the previous year. 

“Often it’s hard to know what to do on this side of the planet to help,” said Angela Presley, Global Missions Pastor at Crossings Community Church. “This is an avenue for us to be a part of that solution, to help to rescue these kids, and to give them a better future.” 

At the Pack-a-thon, families, small groups, and individuals are encouraged to serve together, measuring ingredients, weighing boxes, and sealing packages. Children age five and older pack meals alongside their parents and community members. “The beauty of this type of ministry is to see how individuals and families can be a part of making a difference, even if they’re unable to travel halfway across the world,” Presley said. 

This year, volunteers will be packing two different meals: lentils and rice, and soy and rice. Each meal also includes a vegetable component and vitamin mix. “It feels like you’re doing something important and actually making a difference,” said Jennifer Ayotte, Director of Communications, who has also participated in the Pack-a-thon.

After the meals are packed at Crossings, Feed the Hunger sends them to feed hungry kids in Bangladesh. Why Bangladesh? “We were drawn to the Rohingya refugee camp, which is the largest refugee camp in the world,” Presley says, describing how the almost million refugees in the camp were driven out of their homes and live at the encampment. 

In January, Presley went with Feed the Hunger to volunteer and unload distribution boxes in Bangladesh. Part of the packing process is to mark each box with a label showing where it came from. “We made special labels for our boxes, so when we got there, we were able to open the containers and see those boxes there,” she said, describing how special it was to see the boxes packed by Oklahomans all the way in Bangladesh. “We were able to see first hand where these meals were being served… and to participate in actually serving the meals to the children.” When you see the faces of these kids who have so little – they mean so much to them,” she said. “There is so much gratitude.”

For more information, contact Jennifer Ayotte at jayotte@crossings.church or visit crossings.church.