Wednesday, December 9, 2009

KAH Cincinnati spotted in Swaziland!

Check out this site: http://www.hopechestpartners.org
Click on the Africa link (left side of the screen)

Right around 20 seconds into the video on orphans in Africa, Vince starts to talk about the idea of what a "carepoint" is.....check out the stacked boxes in the video (on the right).

KAH Cincinnati shipped 840,000 meals to Children's HopeChest in July and hopefully we'll be able to ship more in February. As you can see in this video, the boxes you helped pack right here in Cincinnati, OH are making an impact at this Thembeni carepoint in Swaziland!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

What a weekend!

After 7 sessions (90 minutes each), 15 packing lines per session, and 1,600 volunteer packers....Christian Life Center Dayton along with KAH Cinci's "Pack at your place" team, packed 301,536 meals for needy children in Swaziland.

Thank you to each of the CLC Dayton leaders and packers as well as the KAH Cinci's "Red Shirt Team", you guys rock!

Since we began operations, KAH Cinci has now packed 2,139,912 meals.

We will be back at our Blue Ash "factory" on December 19 and then we will be taking a Christmas break. We will resume packing every other Saturday starting on January 9, 2010.

We hope you all have a great Christmas!
Thank you for all your help.

Monday, November 23, 2009

'Pack-a-thon' aids Guatemalan kids

Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati.Com » Local news
Last Updated: 6:46 am | Saturday, November 21, 2009

By Mark Curnutte • mcurnutte@enquirer.com • November 21, 2009
Article can be found online here.

BLUE ASH - Working two-hour shifts in teams, more than 600 volunteers Saturday assembled 200,000 meals for starving children in famine-stricken Guatemala.

From ages 3 to 85, the volunteers packed a high-protein mix of rice, dried vegetables and soy protein - one scoop at a time - through funnels and into plastic bags. They were boxed and stamped with a yellow sticker reading "Packed in Cincinnati, Ohio USA by volunteers who care." The next step is shipment by the organization Kids Against Hunger to the Central American nation.

• Photos: Pack-a-Thon

Entire families, corporate volunteers and nurses with international human relief experience were among those who worked the assembly tables in a former grocery store on Hunt Road in what organizers billed as a "pack-a-thon."

Devin Robinson, 47, a nurse at Cincinnati Children's from Burlington, scooped soy during a morning shift.

She came alone and wanted to experience the food end of humanitarian relief. She spent two weeks in 2008 working in a clinic and teaching first aid in schools in the South American nation of Peru.

"I wanted to see this and see if there was a way to make a connection," said Robinson, who plans to go back to Peru next summer with Project C.U.R.E.

Organizers hung a white board on a hook in the front of the space after a morning shift. In marker, it read 42,768 meals - the number packed in two hours.

Kids Against Hunger is a part of the Liberty Township-based A Child's Hope International, founded in May 2008. Lawrence Bergeron, former lead pastor at Mason's Hope Church, is its executive director.

"Our whole focus is the 'least of these,'" said Bergeron, who spent the day leading an information session for incoming volunteers in one corner of the building before they would go on the line. Then he'd announce a shift change over a bullhorn.

Volunteers washed their hands with waterless sanitizer and slipped on aprons, rubber gloves and hairnets. Packed boxes were sealed and stacked on wooden pallets. In the back, volunteers poured rice and other ingredients into large plastic containers that were moved to tables for volunteers to scoop.

The group has shipped its food packets to Appalachia, overseas and locally through the Freestore Foodbank. Organizers and a banner hanging in the former store - the Kroger Co. handed Bergeron the keys to the building and pays for all utilities and necessary upgrades - reminds people of their ability to make a difference: One volunteer working two hours can pack enough food to feed a child for one year.

"You could use a machine for this, but you would lose the human touch," Bergeron said. "It's great to see the community coming together, all faiths, all ages."

Keith and Lecia Holley of Loveland brought their three children - daughter, Karlin, 11, and sons, Ethan and Nolan, 8 and 6 - to work a shift as a family. They took their turns scooping ingredients into the bags, patting them flat by hand and packing them into boxes.

"It's a great family ministry," Keith Holley, 43, said. "It's a hands-on way to help the less fortunate."

Less fortunate, indeed: 52 percent of Guatemala's 13.3 million people live in poverty, according to the Latin America Herald Tribune. A government study released in February reported that 45.6 percent of Guatemalan children suffer from chronic malnutrition and that their physical growth falls below the average established by the World Health Organization.

Billie Kimbrough, an executive with the Kroger, volunteered Saturday with a co-worker.

"It's a really neat process," Kimbrough said of her first-time experience with Kids against Hunger. "When I see the tapes (in the orientation) ... No person should go hungry."

More information:
To learn more about A Child's Hope International and its Kids Against Hunger program, go to www.achildshopeintl.org or call 513-515-2611.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Chase Community Giving

Please vote for A Child's Hope International (KAH Cincinnati) to be a receipt of Chase Bank's charitable giving. Thank you!!!!

Hometown Hero

(from left to right: Larry Bergeron, Brian Ramstetter, Gary Crawford from IGA, Brian Thomas from 55KRC)


Congratulations Larry Bergeron (founder & director of Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati) for being named 55KRC/IGA's November "Hometown Hero"!

Larry was nominated by good KAH-Cincinnati friend, Brian Ramstetter. Being selected for this award earned Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati a donation of $550 from 55KRC and IGA as well as an on air interview on 55KRC last Wednesday!

For a recording of the interview from Wednesday, visit: 55kRC podcasts

Look for the podcast titled, "55KRC AM Show Archive 11/18/09 8AM Katherine Debrecht - Author, Chief Streicher and IGA Hometown Hero". Press the "Listen" button. To get to our interview, fast forward (the two areas pointing to the right), until the 14:29 mark. To stop fast forwarding, press the pause button and then press the same button (now it will be the play button). Brian Thomas continues to talk about Larry & KAH even after the interview until the 22:41 mark.

Pictures from the interview can be found here: 55KRC photo Album

Brian Thomas also mentioned KAH in his video blog ("Vlog") Wednesday. Go to: 55KRC Brian Thomas Vlog After a brief commercial then you should see "11-18-09 Vlog". He spends the first 60 seconds talking about Larry & KAH and then continues his political talk show.

For more information or to nominate any other deserving Hometown Hero, visit 55KRC Hometown Hero.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Search Institute / YMCA Conference


Last night, KAH-Cincinnati in collaboration with the Search Institute & the YMCA helped 140 youth pack 41,904 in only 2 hours!! We had 14 lines running at one time...a big step up from our normal 4 lines at one time. Everyone did a great job, thank you to Duke Energy, Search Institute, the YMCA, and all the youth from around the country who packed the food.

One group there last night purchased 26 black tee shirts for their team – they were that excited. In fact, their leader asked if they could go home (to CA), raise funds and send the money needed for a pallet for Africa!! How cool is that? Many of the youth didn't want to leave and even stuck around until we were completely out of ingredients. Everyone chipped in and it was a great example of teamwork.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Donations go to food relief

The Cincinnati Enquirer • October 29, 2009

A family has pledged $10,000 in matching funds to Kids Against Hunger for a special Thanksgiving effort aimed at providing hunger relief for children affected by recent natural disasters such as the tsunami in American Samoa.

If the nonprofit can raise $10,000 in donations by Nov. 21, the amount will be matched by the anonymous donors.

The money will then be used to purchase rice and other ingredients for food packets that will be assembled during four packing sessions on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Kids Against Hunger is part of A Child's Hope International, Inc., an organization founded by Liberty Township residents Larry and Elizabeth Bergeron.

To make a donation, or to volunteer for a packing session, go to www.achildshopeintl.org/Thanksgiving.html.

Cincinnati Enquirer article can be found here.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Thanksgiving Event

Please note that the Sessions are nearly full - please register soon!

The plight of hungry children around the world does not take a holiday, hunger is relentless. The natural disasters of earthquakes and tsunamis in Indonesia and Samoa have left many children at risk. The extreme famine in Guatemala is responsible for the deaths of countless children who are starving to death. The list goes on. We can either tune out the cries of the hungry or do something about it using our time, talents and treasures as we give thanks for the blessings we have this Thanksgiving.

We are very excited to announce that we will be working with WorldHelp on a special humanitarian relief project this Thanksgiving season for the children at greatest risk right now. You are encouraged to be a part of this special Thanksgiving project through your financial help and your serving at the "factory" on Saturday, Nov 21, 2009.

The "factory" will have FOUR packing sessions; each session will have 13 lines of production allowing a total of 150 people per session to serve. This is a unique opportunity for your church, business, school, college, neighborhood, family and organization to serve others in great need.

Session 1: Arrive by 8:15 AM, Packing 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM THIS SESSION IS NOW FULL

Session 2: Arrive by 10:15 AM, Packing 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Session 3: Arrive by 12:15 PM, Packing 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM THIS SESSION IS NOW FULL

Session 4: Arrive by 2:15 PM, Packing 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

We are asking everyone to help financially - to make a personal sacrifice so that children may live. There are many ways to help from the TenForOne project, to fund raising ideas that you can start now. Many companies offer matching donations - does your employer offer matching donations? Let us know at KAH@achildshopeintl.org and we will share the good news with others.

Please help us with the funds we need to purchase the ingredients. You can do that conveniently and safely with our online donation service. Click on DonateNow and make the decision to make a difference.

*** Incredible News ***

One very special family has pledged $10,000 in matching funds to help feed starving children. They are encouraging you to give generously so that your gift will be doubled! Please donate today so that we can get these matching funds for the Nov 21 special pack at the "Factory". We need the funds now in order to purchase the food ingredients for that day. Follow this link to make a quick and easy online donation.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Blue Ash Opening Day!

We are pleased to announce that the "factory" has moved to a larger facility as of Oct 1. The new location is the vacant Kroger property in Blue Ash just off Kenwood Rd. The new "Factory" will allow us to operate more lines, more days,all with even more storage space. Thank you to the management and staff of Kroger for this incredible blessing of support.

Our first Blue Ash pack was last Saturday, Oct 3 and it was a good one! 33,696 meals were prepared in two 2 hour shifts! Thank you to all of our first time volunteer packers at our new location.

September 2009

September 2009 brought our final packing events at the Berean Christian Stores warehouse in West Chester. Just in September alone, all of you helped pack 53,568 meals for starving children "here, there and everywhere"!

The Kids Against Hunger Factory has been operating at Berean Christian Stores since July 2008. Since then, over 1.5 million high protein meals have been produced. That effort required over 105 tons of ingredients and well over 3,000 volunteers working in 2 hour shifts. The demand for the food has grown worldwide sadly as the number of orphans and hungry children continues to grow.

All of us are extremely appreciative of the support and encouragement that Berean Christian Stores has provided to us since we opened. President Bill Simmons and his staff have been extremely supportive to the ministry feeding hungry children.




Thursday, September 24, 2009

Did you pack this box that ended up in Swaziland?

Another email & picture from Swaziland just came in this morning.

In Bheventi, the winter season is just now ending. When Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati's Larry Bergeron last visited, the Bheventi care point had 85 children, which was approx 12 km from the main road with no water and animals roaming free through the camp.

KAH - Cincinnati and A Child's Hope International has just been approved to send anti-parasite medicine to the area. Hopefully, these pills will go out with our next shipment. The children suffer greatly from parasites and worms that infest their bodies. Since most of the kids don't have shoes, their feet get cuts very easily and the worms enter their bodies. It is our hope to also provide a fresh water well to the area (approx $5,000).
Dear Larry

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to take some boxes of food to a new carepoint (not too far from Bheveni) who have asked us for help. This would not have been possible without the boxes of food you and your helpers packed and sent us. So thank you so much for it. I thought so much of you; I actually wished you were there at that carepoint with me to see those kids, hear some of their sad stories, and see the thankfulness in the eyes of the women who have taken the job of feeding those kids on their shoulders.

Attached is a picture of the ladies holding one of the boxes.

Blessings and love,

Carike

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Swaziland Update

The below photos are the latest from the mission in Swaziland. How wonderful to know that what was done months ago is helping today. These are not small servings are they?

The note from the pastor in the field serving these children:
Thank you for the food. It came just at the right time. We are going to be able to feed so many kids; from all nine of the Care Points we work with around Nsoko. This food is crucial for the health and nutrition of these children. Since receiving a similar food in the past, the nutrition of the children has improved significantly. Your generous contribution to the ministry here will enable hundreds of children to eat for several weeks. Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts, and the center of their bellies. Pastor Dlamini



Monday, September 21, 2009

From an 11 year old volunteer.....

From an 11 year old volunteer, Alyssa:
"Kids against Hunger. It was a Saturday. My mom and I were checking out Kids against Hunger. I was so excited when I got done but then I realized that the kids who the food goes to only get one meal per day. And we get three, so I wanted to go back the very next day and serve some more."
Simple.
Selfless.
Heartfelt.
Effective.
Making a Difference.
Thank you Alyssa!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A Human Sundae = Clean Drinking Water???

Thank you to the Children's Ministries of Christian Life Center in West Chester, OH for their fun donation! The kids were challenged by Cathy Hageman, their pastor of Children's Ministries, to raise $500 to provide clean drinking water for 10,000 kids in Nicaragua. To liven the challenge up a bit, Cathy promised to become a human ice cream sundae if the kids exceeded the goal. As you can see below, the kids raised a total of $1,185.07!! Enjoy the pictures below and thank you to everyone at CLC!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Swaziland delivery

We have just received a great update from Swaziland on the shipment which left the US on July 4. The food is now there safe & sound! Although our KAH food will help, they are feeding 2700 children every day and do not have enough food to care for all the children at the care points.

From our local contact, Magugu in Swazliand:
Hi Larry,

Good news indeed, we have been able to see the containers delivered and offloaded in Swaziland. A big thank you to Martin for all his hard work and facilitating its really something that he does. Thank you to Larry and team for putting all this together, we have not touched the food until we get further instructins from Jumbo. I have seen and took some of the clothes and my kids and wife are not closing their mouths - they appreciate your help indeed. God bless you and forever increase you. It all went well and we are continuing to appreciate your commitment to serving this nation.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Saturday August 22, 2009

Last Saturday (8/22/09) was a productive day!

Total meals produced reached 1,525,824, which means we came close to 6.5 pallets produced (46,224). All of that food was packed by volunteers from West Chester Church of the Nazarene in the morning shift and Countryside Nazarene in the afternoon shift. Six pallets of KAH food will go the mission they support in Honduras, called Cocal Gracias.

We also made a shipment today of 7,128 meals (1 pallet) which went to ServeCity and Living Waters in Hamilton.

Remember that we are closed until Saturday September 12th.

Thank you to all our Aug 22 volunteers!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Recipes for kids against hunger food

Kid tested recipes from kids at Appalachia's Happy Church using the Kids Against Hunger food packets we send to them:

Basic Recipe
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can condensed soup (10¾ oz)
1 cup cooked meat

Taco Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can tomato soup
1 cup cooked taco meat

Pork and Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup cooked pork

Chicken Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup cooked chicken

Ham and Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup ham chunks

Smokies and Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can tomato soup
1 8oz. pkg. smokies sausages

Beef and Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup leftover chuck roast

Tuna and Rice
1 KAH packet
6 cups water
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can tuna

Additional Tips
*try adding a pkg. of frozen mixed vegetables
*after it is fully cooked, if you need to keep it warm for awhile, place mixture in a pan in a 200°oven and cover with foil
*if you place it in the oven, try some toppings, like shredded cheese,crushed potato chips, crushed taco chips, french fried onions in a can
*if you add 10 cups of water, it makes a nice soup

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Update from last week's activities....

We are about as close to 1.5 million meals as we can get!!! Total production to date at the end of production on Saturday (8/8/09) was 1,486,728 meals. Below are pictures of some of the volunteer packers that helped prepare almost 30,000 meals last Saturday.

Our next packing event will be Sat Aug 22. Two churches, Countryside Community and West Chester Nazarene will be teaming together to pack for the mission in Honduras that Countryside supports. This is a great thing when two churches come together for the least of these. They have been working as hard as they can on fund raising. Please pray for the pack and for the funds to come in - for the children in Honduras.

Our next packing day after that will be Sat, Sept 12.

The Great American Yard Sales is scheduled for Sat, Sept 19 from 9 AM to 3 PM. Brandy Griffis is point person. The location is the building located on Rt 22:

8432 Old 3c Highway
Maineville, OH 45039

We hope to get a key and alarm code for the building so that we can begin to move items into the building in advance. PLEASE let Brandy know that you can help with many aspects of this even now at bgriffis@fseinc.net. She needs some people to help coordinating now. We will need a lot of help on the event date so let Brandy know if you can do that please as well. Samples of KAH food, t-shirts for sale, baked goods sales, collecting money, etc.... This event will be one of our major and much needed fundraisers for the year. Your help is greatly appreciated. If you have items you would like to donate to be sold at the yard sale, please drop off at the "factory" Aug 22 or Sept 12.

Please pray for the food being shipped to Swaziland. We have sent 4 shipping containers of food for these kids, the good news is that the food is in Swaziland. Prayers are needed to quickly get access to the trains so the food can be delivered to the care points.


Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Great American Yard Sale - Sept 19

Just heard this morning that the building at 8432 Old 3c Hwy Maineville, OH 45039 has donated their location for the Great American Yard Sale Event on Sat, Sept 19!

All proceeds will go to Kids Against Hunger-Cincinnati, as you know our donations are down and we very much need this financial help. We will need lots of help the day of the event as well as preparing in advance.

For more info on the Great American Yard Sale to benefit KAH-Cincy, please visit http://www.achildshopeintl.org/YardSale.html More details will be forthcoming, but please contact KAH@achildshopeintl.org if you would like to help in any capacity.

July 25, 2009

On Saturday July 25, there was a big storm in the AM that knocked the electricity out for a bit. Emergency lights came on and volunteers sat in the dark while the computer projected the training video! Paul eventually got the lights on (they take time to reset) and we were back in action! We had several groups from local churches as well as a group that came to celebrate a birthday party, together we packed 31,536 meals for starving kids around the world. Thank you to all who volunteered! We are only 43,944 meals from hitting the 1.5 million meal mark!!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

July 18, 2009

A special thanks to the youth group from Milford Bible Church in Pennsylvania who conducted their own packing session on Saturday! All by themselves they packed 20,088 meals! We had to close the team down at 11:30 AM, otherwise they would easily have packed 3+ pallets! Not only did they help with a financial donation to pay for some of the ingredients they packed, but they also set up and cleaned up the factory!!! Thanks guys!

More good news...... 10 pallets of food (71,280 meals) destined for the Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation in Haiti left the warehouse this afternoon. This shipment will arrive at Mission Harvest America in Jacksonville FL late tomorrow!

Saturday's packers from Milford Bible Church

Friday, July 17, 2009

Monthly Newsletter & Twitter

Stay tuned to your Inbox for our first monthly newsletter coming your way! If you are not on our email list, you can join here: http://www.achildshopeintl.org/KAHList.html

KAH-Cincinnati is also on Twitter!
You can follow us here: http://twitter.com/KAH_Cincinnati

July 11, 2009

On July 11, 2009 Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati celebrated our one year anniversary at the "Factory" located in the Berean Christian Stores natonal support center. To celebrate we had a very successful packing session with 35,372 meals prepared!

It has been quite a year! Over 3000 volunteers used 100 tons of ingredients to make over 1.4 million meals! And hundreds of donors helped by giving as generously as they could.

All of this would not have happened without the help of the leadership and staff at Berean. Working together, we witnessed a miracle of multiplication.

Thank you!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

June 27, 2009

Saturday, June 27, 2009 was another great day at the factory! A total of 31,968 meals were packed and ready to be shipped!! Both the AM & PM sessions were full of volunteers ready to make a difference in the lives of children around the world. The packing was a bit more spirited in the afternoon as the PM packers were trying to prepare more meals than the AM session did. The AM packers did win by preparing 17,280 meals.....in 2 hours! Thanks to everyone that served on Saturday, you are appreciated.


Friday, June 26, 2009

Are You Comfortable?

From Kids Against Hunger - Cincinnati's founder and Executive Director, Larry Bergeron.....

The heat of summer is here. Your A/C is on, cool drinks are stocked up and all kinds of food is available.

Now imagine being a 5 year old child in sub-Saharan Africa or Haiti or India. It is 100˚, there is no water to drink and your last meal was 3 days ago. In many cases, to make the suffering worse, your parents are gone. Bad summer movie? Boring summer TV re-run? Hardly. It is a never ending horror show.

30,000 children will die today all over the world from hunger. Requests for help from our Kids Against Hunger Factory are rising weekly.

We do not see this kind of suffering in America. Many would say we are blessed. We are. And with the blessings come responsibility.

Together we can help alleviate suffering this summer. You can Volunteer at the Kids Against Hunger Factory and you can Donate Now online.

None of the Kids Against Hunger food ingredients are donated, discontinued, defective or distributed by an economic stimulus bill.

Did you know that we can feed a hungry child for just 25¢ a meal, only $10 a month – just $125 a year?

Ask your church to help with a special offering or a donation from the mission or compassion budget.

You can be a blessing.

Will you? Sam & Esther are waiting.

Blessings,
Larry Bergeron
A Child's Hope International
Liberty Township, OH 45044
www.achildshopeintl.org
www.achildshopeintl.blogspot.com

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Dante Alighieri

He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it. -Dante Alighieri, poet (1265-1321)


Submitted by: Donald Johnson, frequent KAH volunteer and Pack 929 Assistant Cubmaster/Popcorn Kernel
Thanks Donald!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Fund Raising ideas

As many of you already know, KAH-Cincinnati runs entirely on donations by amazing people like you. None of the ingredients are supplied by the government, donated by stores, neither are they discontinued or defective. All of the food is high quality, fresh and purchased at prevailing market rates.

Just as critical as the time you donate to help pack these life saving meals, so are the financial donations we use to purchase the ingredients for these meals. The financial donations are also used to ship these meals around the world.....and around the corner.

KAH-Cincinnati along with A Child's Hope International is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable corporation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. As such, all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

There are many ways that funds can be raised and here are some ideas to get you started. Can you think of others? Let us know by leaving a comment! The best idea of each month gets a free Kids Against Hunger tee shirt! To win the monthly contest, please leave your suggestion with as many details from your personal fund raising experience in the comment section at the bottom of this post. Please include your email address so we can contact you if you win! For examples of how other groups have help raise donations for KAH-Cincinnati, please visit here.

1. Get the small Kids Against Hunger boxes for use in school classrooms, laundry rooms at home, etc. They are only $1 each. Show your family, friends and neighbors and ask if they will help feed a child.
* One box filled with coins can feed over 400 children!

2. Keep one of the larger KAH boxes in your church or office with a small sign and encourage people to make frequent deposits when they see it; when they collect $54 in a box send us a check and start all over.
* One box of food will feed 216 children – and it is only $54.
* Keep a count of the boxes at the display so people know that they are making a difference

3. Sell items that are not needed in your home – make room for other things!
* Sell on ebay, Craigslist or a local consignment store and ask them for help after you share the KAH story with them
* Need help with selling on ebay – let us know!

4. Have your sports teams get involved
* Ask your Upward Bound basketball team to collect 25¢ for each rebound that their team catches or 25¢ for every base hit in Little League, for every blocked soccer goal, etc...

5. Submit an application to your Mission Committee at church for support to KAH
* Bring your missions pastor to the "Factory" to see what happens and why this is such a great program for people of all ages – family friendly ministry

6. Apply for matching funds at your place of employment – specify A Child's Hope International (a 501c3 company) as the recipient of your gift and of your employer
* Ask your employer for a company day (i.e. Live United) and come to the "Factory" having raised funds in the office

7. Collect unwanted gold jewelry and bring it to the "Factory"
* We will collect and sell as part of the Melt Down for Kids Campaign

8. Get some people together for “Sack It”
* Each person pays for one 50 pound sack of rice (an important ingredient in what we pack) on the day they pack – they buy it at the door and take it to their packing lines for processing
* Set up a really cool “Sack It” display in the church lobby or office – have sacks of rice with signs and a table for people to sack it for just $20 – they are buying rice for your team to pack

9. Start by sponsor a child for $10 a month
* that is what costs to feed one child with this program

10. Have your church VBS program support Kids Against Hunger – the theme is Kids Helping Kids
* We have great promotional material for you to use.

11. Ask Child Sunday School classes to conduct a 25¢ drive to help hungry kids
* then ask the adults in the church to match 4:1 – for every 25¢ the kids raise, the adults pay $1

12. Encourage everyone you know to use Goodsearch instead of Google on the Internet
o See http://www.achildshopeintl.org/Fund.html for details

13. Have a Kids Against Hunger party at your home sharing the needs of children and then asking for ideas on how your guests can help – many will ask what does it cost?
o Show them the Sam & Esther video on our DVD or web site and then ask them to help

14. Show pictures of children, tell your friends that we can feed that child for $10/month - can they commit to doing that?
o give them a KAH magnet for their refrigerator

15. Host a family fun night, inviting the families to donate to KAH the amount they would have spent taking their family out to dinner. Some might give the “fast food” amount and others the “sit-down dinner” amount
o Have some KAH displays around, show them the Sam & Esther video

16. Have a huge yard sale with others in your neighborhood, office or church and tell people that all proceeds go to helping starving children
o people who stop by and hear why you are doing this (HAVE BIG SIGNS) will give and not negotiate the price

17. Ask the local pizza store to donate 25¢ for each pizza sold – promote their business and see what happens
o Place a sign and poster in their store

18. Ask the local grocery store if you can help bring grocery baskets to the cars of people when they leave the store
o People will ask why you are doing this service, give them a flyer on KAH and tell them you want to help starving kids who never see grocery baskets
o BUT do not ask for money

19. Offer to walk your neighborhood dogs
o Tell your neighbors why you want to help hungry kids and see what happens

20. Have a Kids Against Hunger birthday party
o Instead of gifts ask your guests to bring a donation for a hungry child
o Instead of spending money for gifts for unneeded items, buy a box of food in someone’s name for Mothers Day, Christmas, Graduation, etc

21. Have a KAH tee shirt party before you come
o Have everyone pre-order and purchase their KAH shirts and wear them so others ask what that means

22. Have a KAH Bike Swap: For anywhere from $5 to $50, bring your bikes to sell at a special KAH location. If you want us to sell it for you, pay us just $5

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

800,000 meals on the way to Swaziland

At this time, we have approx 800,000 meals loaded on three containers in Florida getting ready for Swaziland. It is urgently needed. Recent reports from the World Health Organization show Swaziland as one of the worst locations for critical food relief.

In recent weeks we have received additional requests from other two other groups for Swaziland orphans. This website http://www.youngheroes.org.sz will show you some of the background on the situation there. At this time, we are partnering with a Adventure in Missions (AIM) and Children’s Hopechest in Swaziland. This current shipment of 3 containers will need to be repeated this year.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Saturday June 13, 2009

Production on Saturday June 13, 2009 was right at 35,000 meals (5 pallets)! This took KAH Cincinnati to 1,344,168 meals produced. With the shipments made from KAH Cincy to Florida for Swaziland you have now shipped a total of 1,176,768 meals. What is actually going to Swaziland (with the help of KAH - New Hope who donated 40 pallets of food) is just about 850,000 meals in three containers.

Thank you to Bill, Don and Neal for making the trip to Dayton to pick up more supplies!

Thank you also to the Gibson family who have volunteered to help as new shift leaders!! If you are interested in serving as a shift leader, please vist: Shift Leaders

The factory is open for both morning and afternoon shifts on June 27th and July 11th.

Thank you to all our volunteer packers on Saturday!!!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Swap It This Weekend to Feed the Forgotten

From "Swap It This Weekend To Feed The Forgotten! - www.LovingTheLeast.blogspot.com

Ok everyone...it's the weekend! We all know what that means - time for some fun, right? May I ask you to consider doing things a little bit differently this weekend? As you enjoy time with your friends and family please remember that there is an urgent food crisis in Uganda right now and that you can DO something about it this weekend!

This is not meant to be a guilt trip of any kind but an opportunity for us to creatively find ways to give food to these families who are hungry and weak as we begin our weekend full of energy and well-fed. Thanks to Children's Hope Chest we can all take part in bringing meals to people who desperately need them - what a great way to spend a weekend! We get to Feed The Forgotten.

I know...there may be many of you out there like me who have already given financially to this and other projects and are feeling like there might not be much left to give. But since we can provide a meal for only $.14 for someone in Uganda I suggest we swap something we have planned for this weekend in order to feed these precious, hungry people. Are you in? Here are some ideas:

Who has plans to go out for lunch or dinner this weekend? Would you consider swapping your meal to Feed The Forgotten? Get this: The $30 dinner that you swap can provide 214 meals for Ugandans! (When you swap your meal please remember to note "Feed The Forgotten" in the notes section.)



Who is planning on shopping for new summer clothes this weekend? Would you consider swapping one of your items to put food in the bellies of hungry people? Giving up that $25 shirt will provide 179 meals for people in Uganda!

Whose children are anxious to do their first lemonade stand of the year? How about talking to your kids about swapping their profits from the lemonade they sell to Feed The Forgotten? One $.75 lemonade can feed 5 children a meal. What a great way to show your children that they CAN do something too!!

Who is planning on paying a babysitter so you can go out this weekend? How about swapping babysitting services with a friend so that you both can donate the money you saved to Feed The Forgotten? A $40 savings in babysitting can provide 285 meals for Ugandans!!

Who is looking forward to that Saturday morning coffee at the coffee shop? How about swapping your $4.00 coffee drink for 29 meals for hungry people? It doesn't take much!

Who has plans to catch a movie this weekend? How about swapping one movie ticket (about $9.50) for 68 meals?? Hard to believe that sacrificing one movie can give so many people food!

Who is planning a trip to the local ice cream shop? How about swapping your $10 ice cream visit to fill up 71 people with a meal?

We CAN do something and we can do it together this weekend! As you give (being sure to identify "Feed the Forgotten" in the notes section) please pray for these people who are suffering and have such tangible needs. It's humbling that God chooses to use US to be His hands and feet. These people will NOT be forgotten this weekend!!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

May 30, 2009

Another exciting Saturday at the "factory" on May 30! Two shifts producing 4 pallets (28,512 meals). We should note that a team from Bethany UMC worked the morning shift. Bethany held a KAH benefit dinner theater event a little over a week ago to support the packing they did on Saturday. Thank you to everyone at Bethany UMC!!!

The inventory in Dayton (almost 80 pallets of food - 570,240 meals) will begin to move to Florida this week on its way to Swaziland.

Total meals produced by KAH Cincinnati reached 1,316,520 meals as of the end of production on May 30th!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Bergeron focused on food relief

Dayton Daily News
May 21, 2009

Bergeron focused on food relief
The non-profit charity also deals with adoptions, orphan care, foster care and humanitarian relief.

By Katherine Ullmer
Staff Writer

DAYTON — Larry Bergeron, former pastor of Hope Church in Mason, now works part-time as a hospice chaplain between Dayton and Cincinnati to support his family.

But his passion is his nonprofit charity, A Child’s Hope International, which focuses on adoptions, orphan care, foster care, and humanitarian relief.

Part of that relief is the international campaign called Kids Against Hunger. Richard Proudfit, an entrepreneur in New Hope, Minn., started Kids Against Hunger in March, 1999. Eighteen states now have satellite food packaging sites. Ohio has satellite offices in Dayton and West Chester Twp.

The West Chester Twp. satellite, located in a warehouse of the Berean Christian Stores at Exit 19 along Interstate 75, serves the Cincinnati to Dayton area. It has fed children in Appalachia, Wilmington, Africa (44 tons of food shipped) and Haiti, Bergeron said.

Bob Dixon, 45, an ordained Baptist minister/general contractor, works the regional food packaging division of Kids Against Hunger out of a small area of a 65,000 square-foot building donated by Advanced Machinery, at 2412 N. Gettysburg Ave.

“I’ve always had a need to help people,” Dixon said.

A general contractor, he was ordained at the Second Baptist Church in Piqua in 2004.

He learned about Kids Against Hunger about a year ago from “a fellow going back to Uganda.” Proudfit, the founder of Kids Against Hunger, helped him set up his operation.

They’ve had donations from churches, Walmart, Meijer and private companies to pay for food packet ingredients, he said.

Dixon said they need donations of money and materials to repair leaks in the roof and renovate other parts of the building for more space. They also need volunteers/organizations to help hand package the food.

Twice a month they package food packets with a specially formulated mixture of white rice, fortified crushed soy, dehydrated vegetables and a chicken-flavored 21 mineral/vitamin powder, he said. One package can provide six nutritionally-complete servings at a cost of only 23 cents per serving.

They can bring a mobile packaging unit with supplies to a school or church, Dixon said.

Thus far they have packaged and shipped 100,000 packages to Haiti and 100,000 to Swaziland, Africa, he said.

They hope to fill another 100,000 packages to put in Ohio food pantries so people laid off from work can be sure of well-balanced meals. He’s been talking with Catholic Social Services about that project, he said.

Students from The Mound Street Academy on Washington Street, and Youth Works at the Dayton Job Center helped out recently, and a group of Boy Scouts from Englewood packaged food May 9, he said.

He’s been trying to get his message out about the program by going to a different church each weekend and also has talked to the Red Cross, Dayton’s mayor, and various organizations.

He can be reached by calling (937) 567-4035 or by e-mail at Bob@kids
againsthunger.com.

Story can be found here.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

KAH & Epiphany United Methodist in the news!

Help Epiphany feed thousands on Sunday afternoon

MIAMI TOWNSHIP, OHIO – You can help feed thousands of children if you come to Epiphany United Methodist this Sunday afternoon. Epiphany's Serving Gladly Committee will bring all of the supplies and equipment to the church and turn it into a “packaging satellite” for one afternoon. It is to aid the delivery of a specially formulated rice-soy casserole to starving children and their families in the USA and around the world. One package provides six nutritionally-complete servings.

An assembly line will be formed to measure and place all of the ingredients in packages. Church members have been traveling to the West Chester Kids Against Hunger warehouse to participate, and during their last work day there, they packed 14,000 meals.

The meal ingredients are formulated by food scientists to provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins needed by an undernourished child’s body.

The food is also acceptable to the broad diversity of ethnic tastes and religious differences around the world. The food offers all 9 of the essential amino acids required for complete nutrition, something that can’t be said about other typical food relief sources such as rice or Kids-Against-Hunger-3 beans alone. It is also very simple to prepare, requiring only 6 cups of boiling water to make a complete meal.

The public is invited and encouraged to lend a hand and learn more about the mission of Kids Against Hunger.
Kid’s Against Hunger at Epiphany
April 19
1-3:00 PM
http://www.epiphanyumc.org

Original story can be found here.

Monday, May 18, 2009

May 16, 2009

What a great day at the "factory" last Saturday!

- 49,342 meals were packed for the Jean R. Cadet Restavec Foundation (almost 7 pallets in one day!)
- Crossroads Community Church brought 50 volunteers as part of their Go Cincinnati event
- For the first time, we had an on site bake sale and generated $108 to help pay for all the ingredients used in the day's packing! Thank you to Cynthia, Susan and everyone who helped!
- The Sack Slavery campaign has already netted $1000 for this pack
- The Cincinnati Enquirer was on site taking pictures

All the food this month will go to the work in Haiti with The Restavec Foundation, one more pack this month on May 30.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Training Video - take 1

Check out our first attempt at a training video! Narrative and/or audio to follow, but thought I would share this version in the meantime. Hope it helps!

Monday, May 11, 2009

May 2, 2009

Thanks to all our May 2 volunteer packers!

Total production on May 2 was 32,140 meals which brings our total production to 1,238,882 meals. We also made local shipments on Saturday to Serve City (Hamilton) and Foundation Builders (West Chester).

On May 2, we also made a shipment of 15 pallets to KAH Dayton which will finish out the two 40' ship containers going to Swaziland. KAH Cincinnati has contributed 299,376 meals to the Swaziland shipment. The shipment going to Swaziland will total 555,984 meals (78 pallets). One pallet will contain clothing.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

“From the Pit to the Palace”

Watch the Biblical Joseph go from the pit to the palace!!!

The Bethany United Methodist Children’s Choir and a full drama cast will present:

“From the Pit to the Palace”

Dinner Theater Performance in the Bethany UM Church Family Life Center

6388 Cincinnati Dayton Road
Liberty Township, Ohio 45044

Saturday, May 16
Dinner: 6:00 p.m. Performance: 7:00 p.m.

To reserve your tickets, call the church office 777-4448 by Friday, May 15!!!! (Leaving a message by THURSDAY will also work.)

Tickets cost $8/adult, $4/child 10 & under, $25/family maximum.

The money raised from this event will go to Kids Against Hunger.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Center Pointe's Student Ministry

Such a great idea from Center Pointe Christian Church's Student Minister, Steve Poston...
I wanted to ask you how much it costs you for one of the boxes that you use to ship the food packs? The reason is that our student ministry is going to sort of adopt Kids Against Hunger as a ministry that we support....What we're going to do is use the 3 empty boxes that I got from you when my group came and use them as a giving display. Students will be able to come in and give an offering in the box anytime they come to our programs. Every time we get $54, we'll tell them they just bought another box of food and we'll bring that money to you. What I would like to do is for every box of food we fund, I want to buy an empty box from you so that we can build a display wall to show as visual for what they are accomplishing.
After 3 months of this Student Ministry program, here's another update from Steve....
It’s been very successful so far. We place it the 3 box pyramid giving display on the front of our student center stage and leave it there. And then build the wall of boxes on the side of the stage. So far, 3 months, we have seen our students contribute over $600 and fund 11 boxes of food! Every time we get enough for a box, we send it and add a new box to our wall. Each time, we mention the total number of meals that we’ve provided and the number of kids that feeds for a year, it makes the impact of their actions very tangible and understandable.
Thank you to everyone involved with the Student Ministry at Center Pointe Christian Church! You are making a substantial difference in the lives of children around the world!

If your church or youth group would like to participate in the same program, please contact us at: KAH@achildshopeintl.org

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Lady Bugs & Kids Against Hunger

Thank you Lady Bugs!

From one of KAH's most creative friends...Laura Weinbeger :-)

Trying to encourage the Upward Basketball* 1st &2nd grade girls team I was helping to coach, I challenged the “Ladybugs” that for every rebound they got during their eight game season, I would donate a quarter to KAH, so they could feed a child with each rebound. Having a daughter on the team nicknamed “the Haitian Sensation” gave Kids Against Hunger an even more significant part of my heart—and the hearts of her teammates. During the 1st game, a couple of girls asked me “How many kids are we feeding so far?” At the end of the game, that was the biggest question by all the girls (I think that game they had 18 or something).

My husband encouraged me to invite the parents to match what we were doing, and we had several offer to do so—but all the parents were enthusiastic about their girls playing for something more. In the second game, the girls had 37 rebounds!!!! A couple of parents laughed that maybe they’d have to just make a donation at the end of the season because a quarter a rebound might get pretty expensive. I happened to share with a pastor from another church—who had an older son playing Upward—the girls’ enthusiasm for feeding starving children by getting rebounds, and he and a family friend both wanted to bless the girls’ efforts by donating generously. That generosity served to encourage the girls even more!! We had a few rough games, but the girls continued to ask how many kids they were feeding—even helping me keep track of rebounds during the games. One player and her brother were assigned to do a Random Act of Kindness by their school. Both chose to donate their allowances that week to our team’s KAH fund.

Through seven games, the team had amassed 159 rebounds (some of these girls were playing basketball for the very first time!!)!!! In their final game, they had 45 rebounds, to bring the total to 203 rebounds!!!!! I think there are a few donations still to come, but so far the girls have raised $276.75 – or 1,107 meals!!!

I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of these girls and their beautiful enthusiasm for making a difference! Several other coaches liked the idea and at least one other team did the same.

*Upward Basketball is a Christ-centered basketball program in which every child is a winner. All players have equal playing time and there is a devotion in every practice and a half-time devotion in every game. The kids receive stars after each game signifying “best offense,” “best defense,” “best sportsmanship,” “best effort,” and my favorite—the white star, which represents “Christ-likeness.” Obviously, the “Ladybugs” was a team full of “white star” young ladies!!!!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Project Handclasp

KAH Team,

I'm pleased to inform you that the Project Handclasp (PH) component of Continuing Promise 2009 (CP09) on USNS COMFORT will contain 200 pallets of KAH meals. PH made all of them available for distribution in Haiti (1,425,600 total servings). 160 pallets from Minnesota are staged for onload on COMFORT tomorrow and 40 pallets from Ohio are slated for delivery to COMFORT tomorrow (PH coordinated with Mike Lloyd, Larry Bergeron, and Donald Curtis on this short-fused opportunity).

PH high-nutrition meal initiatives and the PH-KAH partnership are depicted in the sampling of photo/video links below. They are included especially for those who haven't seen them before.

The partnership of all involved is greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
P. C. Brown
Director, U.S. Navy's Project Handclasp
________________________________

First PH "MILLION MEALS" initiative for Haiti/U.S. relief mission (Sep
08):
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64359
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64358
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64138
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=39886

Sampling of pictures of the devastation in Haiti:
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64060
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64061
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64042
http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=64041

PH "MILLION MEALS" initiative in the Asia-Pacific region. This
component of MERCY Pacific Partnership 2008 (PP08) featured the U.S.
Ambassador to the Philippines, Navy Fleet Commander for the Western
Pacific, and PP08 Mission Commander. PH provided 380K High Nutrition
Meals in that U.S. outreach.
http://picasaweb.google.com/padgettoflouisville/CDOFeedingOperations?authkey=WDGtsZ9-CjU

PH "MILLION MEALS" initiative in Latin America - CP08 (Pacific)/BOXER,
etc.
http://www.southcom.mil/AppsSC/images/uploads/1III1I1213616763.JPG
http://www.navy.mil/management/videodb/player/video.aspx?id=11113 -
Video, CP08 in Peru
http://www.navy.mil/management/videodb/player/video.aspx?id=11111 -
Video, CP08 in Peru 2

PH "MILLION MEALS" initiative in AFRICOM - APS 07/FORT McHENRY, SWIFT,
etc.
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34744
________________________________

Sunday, March 22, 2009

USNS Comfort

An email from our executive director, Larry Bergeron, on Friday March 20 2009 at 7 PM:

Friends, this is an amazing story. We are in the process right now TONIGHT of shipping 40 pallets of Kids Against Hunger relief to the children in northwest Haiti. The US Navy ship, USNS Comfort (see below) was planning on taking 160 pallets of humanitarian relief to Port au Prince. We had a last minute opportunity to get 40 more pallets on the ship – free shipping! Right now, a truck is en route to get our supplies and then heading off immediately for the US Navy shipyard in Norfolk, VA. The ship will offload by helicopter around April 10, 2009.

This shipment (our contribution) was not planned or anticipated even a few days ago.

Why are we doing this? 50% of all children die before they reach the age of 15 because of hunger, malnutrition and related causes.

Our food costs for the 40 pallets are approximately $70,000. Shipping costs to Norfolk is $2,000. Sounds like a lot ~ but what is the worth of a child today?

We need your help financially, please let me know if you can help or go to http://www.achildshopeintl.org/DonateKAH.html

Want to know more about the children of Haiti – see http://achildshopeintl.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-restavec.html

Monday, March 9, 2009

Larry's trip to Haiti

Two weeks ago, our Executive Director and founder, Larry Bergeron, made a trip to Haiti. While there Larry helped deliver and serve the Kids Against Hunger food packets. Following are excerpts from his trip.....

Well team, I just got back early this AM from Haiti. We were at the NWHCM for a day (where we were last Sept before the Haiti Pack-A-Thon) and elsewhere around Port au Prince. As with NWHCM, the poverty is staggering all over the island and the sheer magnitude of the debility can be overwhelming.

At a tent meeting over the weekend, the people walked for miles (many down from the mountains) to come and even sleep on the floors. They sat on wooden benches and many ate the Kids Against Hunger packets along with special treats that were prepared (they butchered a cow while I was there and boiled it).

A small aqueduct ran by the mission which was fed from the mountain rains. In one part of the small stream (2 feet wide), children were using it as a bathroom

On Sunday night, a woman showed us her 1 month old son named Job. She asked us to take him as she could not care for him any longer. She could not nurse him and there was not enough food for her other children. She felt it best to let him go so he might survive. Lifeline asked if she would want to keep him if she could feed him. As a result, she will get KAH packets on a regular basis now. More food is needed than we can possibly imagine.

.....

I have about 20 or so hand sewn bags (pocketbook sized) crafted by some of the women at the mission in Haiti. They are trying to learn a trade (sewing) and get about ½ of the proceeds back to them. The other ½ is used for the supplies, operating expenses for the mission, etc. The also use the proceeds to pay for the foot pedal sewing machine (non-electric) that the women eventually are given.

A Child's Hope International has paid for the bags so that the mission has the money now. The plans are to sell these at the "Factory" on Saturday to those interested. The women have been oppressed, abused and are struggling to feed their children and to stay alive. I see these bags as a way to help them overcome the injustice.

They are priced from $20 - $30.

.....

Friends, many insights last week at NWHCM and several other outposts on the island.

* One child had a badly swollen belly (hunger). Note her hair color (reddish blonde) – the protein is leaving her hair from severe malnutrition. The internal parasites are awful.
* The other girl was worse than the first – yet note the smile on her face.
* At the care point kitchen, the 3rd girl (pink crocs) was getting her Kids Against Hunger meal for the day on her dish –a frisbee
* The mission compound was on a hillside in the mountains.

Sadly, the death among children is not abating at all. There are no gardens to speak of, 85% unemployment, no infrastructure, and more orphans than before. The presence of the UN forces has stabilized the crime rate. They were very obvious all around the capital city.

Cité Soleil (Sun City in English) is a very densely populated shanty town located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Most of its estimated 200,000 to 300,000 residents live in extreme poverty. The area is generally regarded as one of poorest, roughest, and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country; it is one of the biggest slums in the Northern Hemisphere. There is little police presence, no sewers, no stores, and little to no electricity. Bullet holes are as common as flies. Not wise to travel in the area without UN troops.