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Rotarians roll their sleeves to send meals across the globe

The Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood, Rotary Club of Oshawa, and the Rotary Club of Whitby-Sunrise partnered with Kids Against Hunger Canada to put together food hampers to be delivered to communities in need around the world. (Photo by Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express).

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

Local Rotarians, along with their families and other supporters, were busy in the name of fighting child hunger and malnutrition earlier this month.

Close to 80 volunteers were at Durham College on May 5 packaging 15,000 meals to be shipped to those in need in three different countries.

The Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood, Rotary Club of Oshawa, and the Rotary Club of Whitby-Sunrise partnered with Kids Against Hunger Canada on the initiative.

The clubs paid for the food and provided the volunteers, while Kids Against Hunger Canada will transport the meals to Kenya, Haiti and some indigenous communities in northern Ontario.

The Rotaract Club of Durham College-UOIT also lent a hand in packaging the meals.

Each package contains six meals, costing only 23 cents per serving, with ingredients providing a blend of protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

Oshawa-Parkwood Rotarian and director of public relations David Andrews says the food packages are very important for undernourished children.

“A meal to us is one thing, but to them a meal is huge,” Andrews says.

While both clubs are supporters of numerous local, provincial and national causes, Andrews explains this is an opportunity to serve a more hands-on role in a project.

“It’s a concentrated effort for our club. Writing cheques is one thing, but we want to distinguish ourselves and show we are actually out doing things in our community.”

Kids Against Hunger Canada general manager Wayne McConnachie says they’ve delivered more than two million meals worldwide since 2003.

To him, the motivation for these actions is simple.

“Every six seconds a child is dying of malnutrition.”

He notes that the impact Kids Against Hunger Canada makes would not be possible without the assistance of groups like the local Rotary clubs.

“We feel great obviously that they support us. The key is no one person or organization does it on our own,” McConnachie states. “It’s a collaborative effort to fulfill the mandate.”

 

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