Adolph Link School shows up together to feed kids

This school year, Adolph Link Elementary School in Elk Grove Village adopted “Show Up Together,” as its inspirational message. And this month the entire school, more than 600 kids, showed up together at the annual Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Hope Filled Holiday event to pack 46,656 nourishing meals, enough to feed 127 starving children for a year.

Adolph Link Elementary represented one group of volunteers over the course of the event: a total of 5,000 volunteers gathered over three days at the Schaumburg Convention Center to pack 1,156,454 meals for starving children. Feed My Starving Children tackles world hunger by sending the volunteer-packed, nutritious meals to 70 countries, where they’re used to operate orphanages, schools, clinics and feeding programs to break the cycle of poverty.

Jill Stacey, a fifth-grade teacher at the District 54 school, had packed FMSC meals with her daughter. “There’s nothing more rewarding than a tangible act of service, and the ripple effect it has is quite impactful.” An entire elementary school of volunteers, however, is not a common occurrence. She suggested an all-school trip to the FMSC MobilePack and the community was eager to participate. “I love that we can fill our hearts while filling their bellies,” she said. “Experiences like these keep kids centered and help them to know what’s important.”

Principal Quinn Wulbecker was immediately on board with the all-school meal-packing event. “I knew it was the right thing to do,” he said. “We are putting our school motto into practice in a real-world context.”

FMSC meals are packed by volunteers at MobilePack events throughout the country and at permanent packing facilities. To volunteer at one of the three Chicago area permanent packing sites, located in Aurora, Libertyville and Schaumburg, sign up online at fmsc.org/volunteer.

A Christian nonprofit founded in 1987, FMSC last year welcomed more than 1.2 million volunteers to pack more than 333 million meals to feed more than 912,000 kids daily for a year. The Minnesota-based charity spends 91% of total annual donations directly on feeding kids. For more information, visit fmsc.org.