Extra Meals

Good news everyone...

The funds have ALL come in for the September event! Thank you all so much. The majority of you came through this year much more than you ever have, and I really loved seeing everyone pitching in.

And also - a BIG, GIANT thank-you to Elrod's and Foodland Markets for doing their dollar drive. Once again, we couldn't have done it without them.

We did, however, pack more meals than we set out to pack. We have covered the cost of the 150,000 meals that we committed to, but at the event we just got going and beat our goal by more than 5,000 meals.

The 5,736 meals that we packed over and above our goal cost $1,376.64. We are not obligated to cover the cost of these meals as well, but obviously it helps the organization if we do. Please consider digging deep (once again) and donating. The same instructions apply ("Donation Information" link at left); donations will be accepted toward our event (#1109-99) until December 3.

And after that, if you still want to continue to feed hungry children, FMSC always welcomes your help!

Thanks again, folks!

Thank You (& Final Numbers)!

Way to go folks! We had another successful event this weekend, and I, for one, had a lot of fun as well.

The final numbers:

721 boxes of food packaged

155,736 meals packaged

426 kids fed for an entire year!

The final numbers on fund raising are not available yet, some accounting still has to be done. The last of the funds are due October 23, so there is still plenty of time to contribute if you have not yet. I'm not sure exactly how close we are to the goal, but I know we can still use your help!

I'd like to take a minute here and say thanks to some people without whom this weekend just couldn't have happened:

Elrod's Cost Plus/GE Foodland Markets customers for matching all donations to the event

    (And Jon Beckman, Dan McCann, and the rest of their management and employees for working so hard at putting together their dollar drive)

All of the people who put in SERIOUS hours doing all kinds of odd jobs that needed to be done, going way above and beyond the call of a regular volunteer:

   -Lindy & Lindsey Thomas

   -Dane Daniels

   -Lauren Shirley

   -Susanna Thomas
   -Elizabeth Nelson

   -Jimin Bae

   -Karen & Sam Pedersen

   -Mary Jurisich

   -Greg & Robin Swindle

Thanks to The Ridge Church and Jeannette Ingram for letting us borrow your tables! It saved us a lot of money that we might have spent on renting them.

Thanks to Denise Beckman, Susanna Thomas, and Mary Ann Clayton for providing snacks and meals for our staff members!

And thanks to everybody that came out, and/or those of you that spent a lot of time and energy organizing groups to come out. I particularly appreciate those of you, like Gwen Jurisich and Robin Swindle with FUMC Carrollton, UTD Focus, Stonebriar's Journey of Faith class, the Sunshine Girls, Scott Dugan at Northeast Church, and others who organized fund raisers prior to the event to help pay for the meals.

And I know I forgot some of you, please feel free to comment or let me know if I left you out and I will add you to the list.

Childcare Available

Many have asked, so we will provide...

Childcare will be available for kids 4 and under during the 3:30-5:30 shift on Saturday, September 24.

This is only by reservation!

Please email me at fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com by September 15 to reserve a spot for your little ones during that shift, and then don't forget to register!

Odds and Ends

A few things we still need for the FMSC MobilePack event:

-10-15 set-up volunteers from 3:00-5:00 Friday, 9/23
              -We need some muscly men for heavy stuff, and some people to set up the work stations (could be anyone!)

-3-4 registration volunteers per shift

-6' or 8' tables, 6' is preferable

-Meals for the FMSC staff (3 people) Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch

-Snacks for the FMSC staff break room - nothing crazy, just fruit, drinks, crackers or something

-Volunteer(s) to take the cardboard recycling to a recycling facility (1-2 normal truckbed loads)

-10-15 people to help clean up from 5:30-7:00ish on Saturday, September 24

-Forklift or donation to sponsor the forklift rental (~$350)

Please let me know if you are willing and able to help out with any of these things (fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com). Thanks!

Don't forget - registration is open here.

Registration is Open!

The time has come...

Registration is now OPEN for all individuals and groups!

Registration Link

As always, keep those funds coming in, and email me (fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com) if you have any questions!

Thanks,

Abbey

Registration Opens Monday 8/15

You've all been waiting...

Registration for volunteers will be open this Monday, August 15. I will be sending out an email to the email list with the registration link, as well as hitting up every other form of media known to man (aka: Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc).

It will also be available here. Where you now see a "Donate" button next to our event (#1109-99), there will also be a "Volunteer" button.

Keep up the great fund raising efforts! We have a rice and beans fast going on right now, a lot of people saving up quarters and eating M&M's, some folks doing a car wash this weekend, corporate donations are coming in... I think we're doing better than ever before at this point. Please keep it up!

Also, please remember that the host church, First Church of Carrollton, is collecting all funds and then making payments to FMSC. So please direct all funds to the church and make out checks to First Church, memo line: "FMSC".

Y'all are the best.

Rice & Beans Fast

I got an email the other day from a girl at UT Dallas that has brought groups to the last couple of FMSC MobilePack events. Some people in her group have a pretty great idea... I think we should all join with them.

"A friend of mine is raising money by doing a week long beans and rice fast.  He wants to raise awareness for the hunger around the world.  The money that people donate and those that participate save on food that week will be collected and donated to FMSC."

This group at UT Dallas is kicking off their week fast tomorrow, August 7. Take a minute to think about participating, on whatever level. If you want to go all week only eating beans and rice, and donate the money you would have spent on more expensive food, great! If you want to only do dinners, great! If you want to exchange a meal or two or three for your whole family, great! If you want to do a month, or start on a different date, great!

Please let me know if you have questions about how to do this, and let me know if you plan to participate.

And don't forget, any funds that you raise can be sent to First Church of Carrollton.

Donation Information

Please donate through the host church, First United Methodist Church of Carrollton. Make checks out to First Church and send them to:

First Church of Carrollton
Attn: FMSC MobilePack
2201 E. Hebron Parkway
Carrollton, TX 75010

For questions about payment, call 469-568-1240 or email me (Abbey) at fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com.

Mooyah Burgers & Fries

What: Mooyah Burgers & Fries will be donating 20% of their proceeds to our September event! Just come, drop your receipt in our jar, and enjoy fresh, never-frozen burgers, made-in-house fries, and thick yummy shakes.   

When: June 27-30 (Mon-Thu) from 5-10pm each day

Where: Mooyah at Park and Plano Parkway, near Willow Bend Mall

Tell your friends! Come all four days!

That's 4 children fed for every $5 you spend.

Fund Raising Ideas

MobilePack Fundraising

Feeding God’s Starving Children Hungry in Body and Spirit

MobilePack Event Fund Raising – Strategies for Success

1)      Organize a “Consume Less” campaign:  Encourage people to eat out less, buy less coffee, rent a movie, etc., and then donate the saved dollars to the MobilePack event.    The most successful “Consume Less” campaigns run 4-6 weeks and culminate with a ceremony/celebration where people/families bring in their savings and donate it towards the packing event.  Incorporating messages from the pulpit regarding hunger, stewardship, and blessing the poor can increase the effectiveness of the campaign

2)      Benevolence and Mission Fund giving:  Ask your church!

3)      Corporate Sponsorship Program:  Invite your employers to sponsor the MobilePack event, or to donate $60/employee volunteer (the cost of the meals each volunteer will pack). Sponsors would be publicized at the event.

4)      Special Events:  Organize a rummage sale, bake sale, hunger banquet, lemonade stand, etc.

5)      Initiate a Kingdom Building Project:  The basic concept is to give away small amounts of the raised funds to individuals or groups (typically $20 to $100), tasking them to pray on how to multiply the funds for the Kingdom, specifically the mobile packing event.  Once individuals have prayed and created an idea and the funds are used to execute their Kingdom Building Project.  Kingdom Building Projects have successfully resulted in turning a few hundred dollars into thousands.

General Fund Raising Ideas

·       Distribute M&M Tubes.

·       Set a Monetary Goal; feed a child for a year ($88), feed 1,000 children for a day ($240). A great goal for a group coming to pack is to purchase one box of meals apiece (216 meals costing $52), which is approximately the number of meals each individual packs per session.

·       Adopt an Orphanage; commit to feed a group of children for a year. Post a calendar where church members sign up to pay for a day of meals (for example, $48 to feed 200 children).

·       Create Competition; ask a Sunday school class to collect Coins for Change or Change for Change.

·       Have a Hunger Banquet; plan a hunger banquet with proceeds going to Feed My Starving Children. Ask me about speaking at the event or showing an FMSC video.

·       Conduct a Hunger Campaign; ask people to list the food they eat for a week, and then serve a FMSC-like meal such as rice prepared with soup mix. Invite people to give up a meal and donate that money to the MobilePack event. Challenge families to eat only rice for one meal each month or week, donating to the MobilePack event what otherwise would have spent. (To learn more, visit http://www.ricedinner.org/.)

·       Collect Pledges; collect pledges based on quarters collected or meals packed at Feed My Starving Children or a MobilePack event, or random activities, such as laps run during PE class, books read during a designated month, bible versus memorized, bible pages read, etc.

·       Tribute Cards; I have these available, email fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com to requrest one.

·       Buy T-Shirts; buy Feed My Starving Children T-shirts ($15 apiece) to wear at the MobilePack event, 25% of purchase will go to the MobilePack event.

·       Change War; conduct a change war challenge among classes or groups; donating pennies awards points to a class or group, while coins other than pennies count against the class, students can sabotage other classes by putting quarters, dimes, nickels or dollars in the other classes' coin jars.

·       Sunday Designation; designate a Sunday at church when every member of the church, children through adults are encouraged to buy a bag of food to feed six people for a day. Take a special collection or have children stand at the doors with baskets. Further, encourage each person to bring a donation for the local food shelf.

·       Work;  bag groceries, rake leaves, wash cars or shovel snow for a donation

·       Create Events; all-school race, talent show with a $5 entry fee, bake sale, pancake breakfast, bingo night, dance-a-thon, bike-a-thon, walk-a-thon, bowl-a-thon, or some other a-thon.

·       Create Awareness; special booth at the school carnival

·       Have a raffle or auction.

·       Your Own Creative Idea!

M&M Fund Raiser

TOTAL raised so far from M&M quarters: $6,369!

 

1. Buy M&Ms from me for $1 per tube

2. Eat Mini M&Ms

3. Fill tube with quarters collected from friends, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, your dresser, etc.
4. Return to FMSC MobilePack day September 23-24 when you come to pack, OR return to First UMC Carrollton Mon-Thu 9-5 or Fri 9-12


1 tube full of quarters = $14 = 58 children fed.
4 tubes full of quarters = $56 = 233 children fed, or approximately the amount of meals you will pack in a two-hour shift.

Consider doing this as a youth group, Scout troop, class, children's ministry at a church, etc. M&M tubes are $1 each.
Drop off your quarters at:

First United Methodist Church of Carrollton (2201 E. Hebron Parkway, Carrollton, 75010)
Monday - Thursday, 9-5.

The Food

The food that we pack and send is a packet of rice, soy protein, dehydrated vegetables, and vitamin-fortified chicken flavoring that has been engineered by dietitians to be exactly what an undernourished child needs.
Each meal costs only 24 cents, so to cover the cost of the meals that we will be packing in September, we will need to raise $36,000.
The food is distributed by FMSC to pre-existing, local organizations worldwide. They give to places such as clinics, refugee camps, missions organizations, etc.

Upcoming Event

Our next scheduled event will be September 23-24, 2011 at First Church Carrollton (2201 E. Hebron Parkway, Carrollton).

We will be packing 150,000 meals!

The cost of this event/our fund raising goal is $36,000. (Check out our fund raising ideas!)

FUN FACT: We have packed just over 880,000 meals in the Dallas area. So, if you do the math... someone at this event will be packing FMSC Dallas's 1,000,000th meal! That's something to celebrate! 1,000,000 meals will feed about 2,740 children for an entire year.

Registration is available here. In the mean time, talk to me about how you can help us cover the cost of all of these meals (fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com).

How to Get Involved

Learn more about the organization:

Email and ask me (fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com) or visit FMSC's general website

- -Particularly check out the Video Library

Participate in the next event:

Volunteer with us or come visit just to check out what it looks like if you're not sure

- - September 24, 2011 at First UMC Carrollton (DONATE) (VOLUNTEER)

Tell people about it and organize a group to come.

Invite your Sunday School class, small group, office, congregation, classmates, etc.

- -Videos, print materials, flyers, sign-up sheets etc. available upon request via email

Organize a fund raiser
- -Have a garage sale!
- -Have a pancake breakfast!
- -Have a change drive!
- -Have a bake sale!

- -Check out the M&M Fund Raiser! It is a lot of fun and has been a great success in the past. Great for kids and youth, too.

Host your own MobilePack Event:

Email me (fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com) to request information about hosting an event.

I can help with publicity and fund raising as much or as little as you want!

Ask to be added to the FMSC Dallas email list

Email me at fmscdallasmobilepack@gmail.com and let me know, and I'll add you!