Submitted by the Rotary Club of Bedford
When local high-tech R&D firm BAE Systems learned about a community service event that will be part of Bedford’s month-long Pay it Forward initiative, they realized that it was a great opportunity to bring their employees together, help others in need, and expand their engagement with the community. Bedford resident Victor Tom, a Chief Engineer at BAE Systems, brought the idea to his employer. “BAE looks for community service projects that will be fun and rewarding for employees and serve to accomplish some greater good. I felt that this project would be perfect, and our management team agreed” said Tom, a member of the Rotary Club of Bedford that is organizing the event.
The meal packaging event involves combining healthy ingredients into a primarily rice-based meal packet, then sealing and packaging the ingredients into cartons for eventual distribution to developing countries. The logistics are managed by Stop Hunger Now, a nonprofit organization that sources the ingredients and manages distribution logistics to hundreds of in-country partner agencies that deliver the meals to schools and orphanages. In addition to addressing nutrition needs, the program encourages families to send their children to school because parents know their child will get a good meal there. Education is a key factor in breaking the cycle of poverty.
To support hunger relief efforts locally, food donations to the Bedford Food Pantry are also being solicited and accepted.
The food packaging event will be held between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Saturday, April 26th at Middlesex Community College in Bedford. The online signup can be found at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4EADA92AA75-payitforward2.
“We are actively seeking additional corporate and individual sponsors so we can make the most of this event. Our goal is to raise over $70,000, and with a month to go we’re about one-third of the way there,” said Linda Cargiuolo, co-chair of the event “It’s a daunting challenge, and we’re going to need help from everyone – school kids, senior citizens, local businesses, church groups, sports teams, town employees, and the list goes on and on. The fact that we’ll need so much help will, we hope, really bring us together as a community.”
Those interested in learning more should with www.bedfordmarotary.org/payitforward.cfm, contact the Bedford Rotary at [email protected], or call Linda Cargiuolo at 978-500-2378.
About Pay It Forward
The Pay It Forward movement was sparked by an old idea, brought to life most recently in Pay It Forward, a 1999 novel by Cather Ryan Hyde, in which a twelve-year-old boy creates a plan to change the world by doing a good deed for three people and asking them to “pay it forward” to three others who need help. The book was made into a movie starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt in 2000. Additional information can be found at https://www.bedfordmarotary.org/PayitForwardDay.cfm and https://www.pifexperience.com/.
About Stop Hunger Now
Stop Hunger Now is a Raleigh-based international hunger relief agency that has been fulfilling its commitment to end hunger for more than 13 years. Since 1998, the organization has coordinated the distribution of over 135 million meals and other lifesaving aid to children and families in 65 countries. Stop Hunger Now works with international partners that ship and distribute the meals in-country. Stop Hunger Now’s meals primarily support school lunch programs. This process of distribution through school feeding programs in hunger-stricken regions, is seen as a practical means to end hunger. Additional information is available at www.stophungernow.org.
For Additional Information:
Linda Cargiuolo – [email protected] – 978-500-2378 or Peter Colgan – [email protected] – 781-775-1651
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