Nearly 2,000 volunteers trudged through Northfield's first major snowfall last weekend to package food at the Feed My Starving Children's MobilePack event held at St. Olaf College.

In an effort orchestrated by Northfield's 5^th Bridge, volunteers packaged 534,600 meals during the Nov. 12-14 event at St. Olaf's Skoglund Athletic Center.

Serving in two-hour shifts, volunteers donned hairnets to fill 13.6-ounce packages with nutrient-laden chicken flavoring, dehydrated vegetables, soy protein and rice. Each package, complete with 20 essential vitamins and minerals, contains six servings of food intended for recipients in 45 countries, including Haiti, Nicaragua, Philippines and Zimbabwe.

During the weekend, upbeat music was pumped throughout the stadium during the 10 two-hour shifts where volunteers manned 12 stations aptly measuring dry food ingredients, affixing labels, weighing packages and preparing boxes for shipping. Throughout each shift, local volunteers young and old worked toward the common goal of feeding the world's starving population.

In addition to breaking the goal of packaging 500,000 meals, 5^th Bridge event organizers were also responsible to cover the costs of packaging and shipping the meals at 17 cents per meal or the equivalent $85,000 for 500,000 meals—a goal met by the second day of packaging. Nearly $13,000 was raised by St. Olaf students toward packaging and shipping costs, said Candy Taylor, executive director of 5^th Bridge.

"There's just something magical about this event," said Taylor. "This event is just so empowering. Even though world hunger is such a huge issue that seems insurmountable, for a two-hour time period with a little bit of money, volunteers can make a difference in the life of a child."

According to Andrew Ulasich, an FMSC MobilePack supervisor overseeing the Northfield event, nearly 40 percent of meals packed by the organization currently are shipped to Haiti to assist those reeling from the catastrophic earthquake that devastated the country Jan. 12, 2010, and who are now faced with a cholera outbreak.

According to the World Hunger website—www.worldhunger.org—there are 925 million hungry people in the world as of 2010. FMSC MobilePacks are designed to provide needed nutrients to build muscles, bones and promote brain development to those who are starving.

In 2009, FMSC organized packaging events that produced a total of 97 million meals. Ulasich said FMSC is on target to package and ship 127 million meals by the end of 2010.

"I personally was very impressed with all the work they're doing to promote volunteerism in Northfield," Ulasich said of 5^th Bridge. "It was a great partnership."

To find out more about FMSC, upcoming MobilePack events or to serve at FMSC's permanent packing stations located in Eagan, Coon Rapids and Chanhassen, go to www.fmsc.org.