After partnering with Homestead Ministries and the Boise Rescue Mission to help those in need throughout the Treasure Valley, we set a goal to provide 10,000 bags of soup mix to be distributed to the community. So on September 25th, we started at about 8:30 am with our kindergarten students who jumped right into the task at hand. We kept a tally on our gym scoreboard and watched the numbers creep up as Greg Nolan of Homestead Ministries announced totals and updated the board. There were tables of students madly sticking labels onto the bags, and a merry-go-round of workers assembling the spice packets – a different combination for each type of soup. Then there were the tables where workers had an assembly line – drop in the spice packet, scoop the appropriate amount of beans, pour into the bag, then take it to the sealers. The sealers then laid the bags across the machine, pressed it, and handed the bag back to be packed into the boxes.
Students in their red Feed the Need t-shirts took shifts throughout the day, and by the time the upper school students took over, boxes full of 3-bean, lentil, and split pea soup packages were stacking up on the side of the gym, ready to be hauled off by the Boise Rescue Mission and other churches and food banks.
Homestead Ministries are experts at setting up an efficient production process, providing all the equipment and materials plus the beans, lentils, and peas. The process was simple, and the students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to serve. By 2:00 pm, we had 8,000 bags packaged and ready!
We weren’t the only ones excited about this event – we were honored to have First Lady Lori Otter, state senator Chuck Winder, and Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea join students at the workstations to help fill some bags! We also had visits from Eagle mayor Jim Reynolds and Ken Corder from the City of Meridian, along with representatives from the local media. We invited 94.1 KBXL to do a live broadcast from the school, and invited anyone in need of food to come by.
In the evening, families came to take a shift at the tables to help us reach our goal of 10,000 bags. Supplies started running low, and we held our breath as the final count neared. But then it was announced – we had packaged 10,500 bags!!
WHERE DID IT ALL GO?
We celebrated with hot dogs, bounce houses, and fellowship that evening, and then formed a bucket brigade-style line to load the majority of boxes into the Boise Rescue Mission truck. Here’s how the soup mixes were distributed:
300 bags: Hope Lutheran Church Pantry
200 bags: Donnelly Food Pantry
500 bags: McCall Food Pantry
1,000 bags: Meridian Food Bank
3,000 bags: Vineyard – Feeding God’s Children Ministry
5,500 bags: Boise Rescue Mission
WAGONLOADS OF HELP
Leading up to the event, our students were collecting coins to help cover the costs of the event. They collected over $7,500!! We even had one friend of the school max out three banks’ coin limits and bring us a wagon full of coins!
Winning House: Edwards $1,560
Winning Class: Miss Hobbs $556
A special thank you goes out to Jackson’s Food Stores for supplying the t-shirts and the hot dog meal. And thank you to everyone who helped contribute to this day. We pray that this food is a blessing to the recipients, given in the love of Christ.
Learn more about Homestead Ministries.
News stories: KTVB Channel 7; Idaho Education News
