A Mitchell woman is on a mission to collect volunteers, funds and a little compassion as she embarks on a goal to pack more than a quarter of a million meals in a single day to help feed the world's hungry.
Deb Weitala is organizing the meal-packing event, scheduled for April 18 at the Corn Palace. Between now and then, she is working to raise $72,000 and enlist at least 750 volunteers to help in the effort.
When it's done, she hopes to have packed 286,000 containers of food, to be shipped to a third-world country. A humanitarian organization in Minnesota -- called Impact Lives -- is the national sponsor of the event.
"I went to a conference in Minneapolis and part of the conference was to actually do this service for the needy," Weitala said. "It was one of the most moving experiences. I would see these little kids next to older people and all of them were having a blast doing something hands-on."
It's going to take an abundance of planning. Weitala said volunteers of all ages are welcome, and the Corn Palace will be turned into a production line April 18 -- a Saturday -- as the meals are packed readied for shipment.
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Without community involvement, she said, the drive won't be successful.
The $72,000 will pay for the raw ingredients that will go into the food containers, as well as to pay for shipping. Since launching the campaign Sunday, Weitala has raised more than $5,000.
The meals will consist of dry ingredients such as textured soybeans fortified with vitamins and minerals, six vegetables for taste, rice for filler, chicken fat and salt.
The total cost of one meal is 25 cents, or about 15 cents for the ingredients and 10 cents for shipping.
The meals will need to be packed by volunteers in a 10-hour day; volunteers will work in two-hour shifts. Weitala suggests families, churches, schools, senior citizens and employers pull together and make the event a fun activity.
"I think we all have compassion but we just don't know how to do it," she said.
It's a perfect fit for South Dakota, she said.
"We are the breadbasket of our country and it just fits so well. People will get a sense of accomplishment, a sense of doing something. (Volunteers) will be able to have a way to live out the compassion in their heart."
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Anyone interested in donating money or volunteering time to Impact Lives, Inc., a non-profit humanitarian organization, can contact Deb Weitala at 996-4937 or 999-8994.
