VIDEO: Bobcats Against Hunger packing meals for needy

Published 8:45 am Saturday, April 25, 2015

Bobcats Against Hunger may only be in its second year, but it’s already making a big impact for the community’s hungry.

“We were founded last September, so this is only our second project,” said McKenzie Fisher, the co-director and co-founder of the organization. “Myself and the other founder were involved in the leadership program at Georgia College, and an alum called the teacher and asked if we wanted to help package meals.

“So we met with that organization, the nonprofit Feeding Children Everywhere, and packed 50,000 meals in one day. We thought there was a need for this in Baldwin County, so we founded the organization,” Fisher said.

Bobcats Against Hunger does various fundraising activities throughout the year, including reaching out to students, alumni and community organizations to ask them to participate and donate to the cause.

“Each meal costs 25 cents to make, so we need $12,500,” Fisher said. “This is our second year to reach that goal, so we’re really excited about that.”

Meals consist of rice, lentils, Himalayan salt (which Fisher said is a more nutritious form of salt) and dry vegetables. The meals are the same meals packaged by Feeding Children Everywhere.

“The meals are healthy, nutritious and filling,” Fisher said. “The hunger project is put on by Feeding Children Everywhere. They get all the food, and we help package it.”

Fisher said that while coming back from helping package Feeding Children Everywhere’s meals, she and the co-founder recalled that children in the Baldwin County School System are able to get free- and reduced-lunch if their family is in financial need. But the two wondered how those children are fed on the weekends when the schools don’t provide a meal.

As such, Bobcats Against Hunger partnered with the school system to deliver the meals to needy families during its first year.

This year, the organization has branched out to include schools, food banks, Café Central and other organizations in the community that donate food to the hungry.

Because of the organization’s hard work in reaching out to the campus and community in its first year, Fisher said there was an overwhelming response from different donors in the community as well as Georgia College students.

“We have 150 volunteers, all Georgia College students,” Fisher said. “Last year was more of a struggle, but this year we filled all our spots pretty quickly. We had an overwhelming response from people who heard about it and thought it was an issue.”

The students will be hard at work packaging meals from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Centennial Center Sunday, April 26. After finishing the packaging, the volunteers will take the meals to the different organizations involved that afternoon.

Fisher said the meals are distributed as evenly as possible to churches, Café Central, Second Harvest Food Bank, the Early Learning Center and other groups that work with the hungry in Baldwin County.

More volunteers are not needed this year, but people interested in donating or volunteering for next year’s packaging event are invited to contact Bobcats Against Hunger.

For more information, like Bobcats Against Hunger on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hungerprojectGC?ref=bookmarks or follow it on Instagram at instagram.com/bcatsagainsth/.