23,440 breakfast meals

For the fourth consecutive spring, members of our church participated in the Outreach, Inc. food-packing mission, providing meals for individuals and families who have difficulty finding healthy food to eat.

On April 29, 64 people — including seven from our church — gathered at the Peoples United Methodist Church in South Portland to assemble breakfast pouches that will be distributed to individuals and families in need in Maine’s Cumberland and Penobscot counties.

The seven teams represented the Thornton Heights UMC, West Scarborough UMC, Peoples UMC, our church, and the Odd Fellows fraternal group. Throughout Saturday afternoon, the teams assembled pouches and packed cases totaling 23,440 servings of cinnamon-apple oatmeal. Each pouch serves six people.

Our church’s team of Jean Meyer, Deanne Burr, Carol Haider, Lili Acheson, Bryan Cobb, Zach Wright and Malki accounted for 3,230 servings of the oatmeal. Each oatmeal pouch contained oatmeal, dried apples, soy and vitamins. This was the first time for assembling a breakfast meal. In the past, the pouches contained ingredients for a bean and rice dinner.

This food-packing program is organized by Outreach, Inc. in Union, Iowa. Its mission is to provide safe food, water, medical care, and education to children and those in need throughout our country and abroad.

The local food-packing mission has been organized by Cori Heatley of the Thornton Heights United Methodist Church since 2014.

For more information on Outreach, Inc., click here: Outreach