Texas Baptists celebrate MLK Day by packing 23,000 meals

Volunteers from Baptist churches across Texas put together meal packets at Texas Baptist Men’s Dixon Mission Equipping Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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DALLAS—The words “Vitamins!” “Protein!” and “Vegetables!” echoed across the concrete walls of Texas Baptist Men’s Dixon Mission Equipping Center as 175 Texas Baptist volunteers packed 23,000 meals on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to send to Liberia.

meals pastormanuel425Pastor Tommy Manuel of Ministry of Light Baptist Church in Huntsville, refills bins with protein to put in food packets that will be shipped to Liberia.The event served as part of a Texas Baptists Disaster Recovery initiative to send food packets to Ebola-stricken nations in West Africa, where starvation has become a crisis.

Volunteers came from all across Texas, including Schertz, Lawn and Huntsville, to pack boxes of food packets. Each packet contained enough vitamins, protein, vegetables and rice to feed six people, totaling 23,000 meals.

Meals4Multitudes, a nonprofit organization in Athens that helps churches and organizations pack nutritious meals for Third World countries, donated the food and supplies and taught the volunteers how to pack the plastic bags.

The nonprofit began as an initiative to provide food to Ethiopia, but Joel Palmer, CFO of Palmer Ministries and co-founder of Meals4Multitudes, said when the Ebola crisis surfaced, they felt a need to expand the ministry.

meals multitudes package425Meals4Multitudes, a nonprofit organization in Athens, donated the food and supplies.“When the Ebola crisis hit in West Africa, it hit during the growing season,” Palmer said. “People quit working the fields. The fields weren’t planted the next planting time. The area where Ebola hit is now in a severe food crisis.”

Palmer said many of the volunteers who came to Dallas intend to set up similar packing events at their home churches.

Members of Ministry of Light Baptist Church in Huntsville attended with that in mind as well as to take the opportunity to serve on MLK Day.  

“We are looking for every opportunity we can to expand in areas of ministry, and we think this is a great ministry,” said Tommy Manuel, pastor of Ministry of Light. “Also, we came today because this is Martin Luther King Day. He was about giving. Rather than just hear from speeches or go to a parade, we thought this was a great opportunity for us to give back and provide service.”


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Texas Baptists Disaster Recovery has sent 1.5 million meals to West Africa. Once enough boxes to fill a 40-foot container are assembled, McLane Company in Houston will cover the cost to ship the next crate to Liberia.

The MLK Day event provided enough boxes to cover two pallets. Eighteen more pallets will fill the 40-foot container. Churches and organizations can provide the remaining needed packets by sponsoring food-packing events. Contact Marla Bearden at (214) 537-7358 or Gerald Davis at (214) 924-6401 or click here for more information.


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