Future Farmers of America work to prepare ready-made meals for Ukraine
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -For the Future Farmers of America, service is one of their key pillars. This week, thousands of students from across the state have descended to Lincoln and are taking time between their events to try to make a difference.
The fifth floor of Pinnacle Bank Arena was buzzing Friday as hundreds of FFA students lent their hands to a large-scale service project that will bring tens of thousands of ready-made meals to Ukraine and beyond.
“It’s something that can kind of keep us all with our community and it makes us all one and be able to help out and that’s what we love to do,” said Amanda Sellen, Norfolk FFA.
Hundreds of future farmers of America spent Friday morning packing 100,000 meals for people in Ukraine.
“So we all have that want for service, and that want to service, and so that’s why I think they did it here so we can do that,” said Carleigh Tietz, Norfolk FFA.
When students arrive, they train and are assigned to an assembly line where they fill bags, weigh them, seal them and box them up to be shipped off.
“Many hands make light work,” said Tristen Buss, Norfolk FFA. “I mean there’s so many people here and we feel very strongly about volunteering and this type of thing we can all work together and meet new people and its just a lot of fun”
This is done in partnership with Mercy Meals, a nonprofit out of Norfolk. Each of these bags are six meals, filled with rice, soy, veggies and flavoring. The partnership with FFA has been long-standing.
“We accept clothing, shoes, medical supplies, hygiene supplies, school kits and then we sort, we pack, we label,” said Kathy Carter, Mercy Meals. “And Orphan Grain Train will ship that all over the world to meet humanitarian needs.”
While the event was only a few hours long, students said it’s one of the most interactive ways to meet other FFA members across the state.
“The more happy we are then the better just around emotional feeling and I just feel like we wanna create an environment where everyone is happy,” said Eric Gonzalez, Perkin County FFA.
After students were done with the bags, they box up all the meals, which are put onto pallets and wrapped on site. They will be shipped to Ukraine in the coming days.
