Foursquare church volunteer Rick McGee, left, hoots and hollers after his assembly line team completes a box containing 216 meals for people in countries suffering from famine or disaster. The daylong effort of about 500 volunteers aimed to box 108,864 meals as part of Project Nourish in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, on Sunday, November 24, 2019. Sid Culver is to the right.
(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Rice, dried vegetables and vitamins – the ingredients that went into 100,000 individual meal kits packed by hundreds of volunteers Sunday, Nov. 24, at The Bridge church in Rancho Santa Margarita.
The packages will be delivered to areas around the globe where populations are experiencing famine, or as natural disaster assistance, through the international Project Nourish program.
Pastor Cami Wittwer, organizer of the effort, said the Rancho Santa Margarita community was eager to help.
“Lots of community groups have just come together,” Wittwer said prior to Sunday’s gathering. “We just plastered the word out all over Rancho Santa Margarita that we wanted people to help pack.”
Five-year-old Alana Isenhart, helps assemble meals for disaster relief in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Volunteers help put meals together with rice, soy, vegetables and vitamins in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019. The food will be distributed all over the world for disaster relief. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Church, schools and organizations come together to help assemble meal packages for disaster relief that will be distributed throughout the world. They were working
in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Packets of rice are shipped all over the world in a box that contains enough meals for 216 people. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Foursquare Church International Response Director, Chad Isenhart, works with his 5-year-old daughter Alana, during an effort to put meal packages together for disaster relief. They were part of a team of volunteers working in shifts
in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Foursquare Church International Response Director, Chad Isenhart, works with his 5-year-old daughter Alana, and volunteer Angel McGee during an effort to put meal packages together for disaster relief in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Celine Sandoval rests with his 6-month-old son Emery, during a volunteer effort to assemble meal packages for disaster relief that will be distributed throughout the world.
They were in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
After assembling meal packages for disaster relief in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Sunday, November 24, 2019, volunteers are thanked and briefed about how their efforts will help others all over the world. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Foursquare church volunteer Rick McGee, left, hoots and hollers after his assembly line team completes a box containing 216 meals for people in countries suffering from famine or disaster. The daylong effort of about 500 volunteers aimed to box 108,864 meals as part of Project Nourish in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, on Sunday, November 24, 2019. Sid Culver is to the right.
(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Churches, Boy Scout troops, schools and community groups turned out to assist. Volunteers also raised $25,000 for the meal contents and a local company donated the funds for the containers.
“I’m one of the pastors of the International Church of the Four Square Gospel – they’re they ones who got this started,” Wittwer said. “We wanted to give Rancho Santa Margarita a way to serve that we don’t always have.”
