{"id":211902,"date":"2026-11-02T21:34:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T02:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211902"},"modified":"2026-11-02T21:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T02:34:05","slug":"local-volunteers-needed-to-pack-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/11\/02\/local-volunteers-needed-to-pack-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"Local volunteers needed to pack meals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First United Methodist Church in Van Wert is calling on families, local businesses and community members to help pack life-saving meals for people in Haiti. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, November 21, at Van Wert High School. This is a new location from previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haiti is facing extreme gang violence, leaving millions of people without food, medical care, or safe schools.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Rice-Meal-Packing.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-211904\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shown above is participants packing meals at least year&#8217;s event. <em>Photo submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The need is urgent,&#8221; said Teresa Shaffer, Director of Agape Outreach. &#8220;God has called us to help our neighbors who are facing starvation and danger.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FUMC has hosted meal-packing events for 20 years. Volunteers will pack healthy meals filled with rice, vegetables, protein, and 21 essential vitamins. These meals will be shipped and delivered safely to over 500 schools and orphanages through Mission of Hope, an organization with 26 years of experience working in Haiti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This hands-on volunteer event is open to all ages. Volunteers will learn how to quickly assemble and pack meal bags at simple work stations. FUMC will provide proof of participation to any students needed volunteer hours<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see what happens when the gym fills up with helpers,\u201d Shaffer said. \u201cWe invite you to bring your friends, family, and co-workers. Students can also earn community service hours for helping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Event details and how to sign up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When: Saturday, November 21, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where: Van Wert High School, 10708 State Route 118 S.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cost: A suggested donation of $20 per person or $50 per family is requested to help cover the cost of ingredients and shipping. Local businesses can also sponsor employee groups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sign up online: Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/vanwertfirst.net\">vanwertfirst.net<\/a> and click on Rice Meal Pack.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Pre-registration is strongly encouraged so organizers can prepare packing stations and supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For questions or alternative sign-up options, contact Teresa Shaffer at 419.238.0631 ext. 104 or email <a href=\"mailto:teresa.shaffer@vanwertfirst.net\">teresa.shaffer@vanwertfirst.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent staff\/submitted information First United Methodist Church in Van Wert is calling on families, local businesses and community members to help pack life-saving meals for people in Haiti. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, November 21, at Van Wert High School. This is a new location from previous [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-10 00:04:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211905,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211902\/revisions\/211905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}