Back in the spring of 2003, Feeding Children International of Stewart had a goal of packaging 1 million meals for needy kids across the globe.

John Neisen, who started the area chapter of New Hope-based Feeding Children International, expected it would take three years and feared the organization might go broke doing it.

Instead, it hit the million-meal mark in one year. Through its popular Kids Against Hunger volunteer meal packaging events, the group has packaged 19 million meals, distributed to food shelves in the U.S. and countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean.

“I have never been involved in anything that the message has been so clear that it was meant to be,” Neisen said. “Whenever there was a problem, someone showed up with a solution.”

Neisen recalls, early in the group’s existence, asking a Stewart man for help with warehouse expenses. The man gave the group $35,000 to help build its own warehouse.

“People I don’t even know just said, ‘I’m going to help you with this,’” Neisen said, “and they’ve done so much to just multiply the size and effectiveness of this.”

Kids Against Hunger volunteer meal-packaging
When: 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday May 7
Where: Cactus Jack’s, 260 South St., Stewart
For a schedule of more upcoming packaging events, visit www.feedingchildrenstewart.org, or call John Neisen at (320) 212-5290, or Mary Baumgarten at (320) 833-5328.

See the Leader’s May 6 print edition for more on this story.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)