OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The day after big meals and family time, many Americans shop and take advantage of Black Friday deals. A group of volunteers in Overland Park instead focused on giving back to hungry people around the world.
Eight-year-old Ben McClain, his 11-year-old sister Lillian, and his mom were some of the people who traded in Black Friday Shopping crowds for the Black Out Hunger Event, hosted by the Leawood Rotary Club and a group called Stop the Hunger.
“We’re packing food to people around the world. It’s kind of good because like we have a lot of food and money and I kind of want to give back to the other people that are homeless and don’t have a lot of money,” Ben said.
Teams at table stations packed food, weighed and counted, then stuffed boxes with bags, all destined for distant countries where people struggle to find meals.
“I want to be thankful for what I have and sometimes it comes out like I’m not,” said Lillian.
She said she knows her work is making a difference, even though it was a little tough. “Your muscles get tired and stuff!”
Their mother, Krista McClain, said teaching values to her kids is important, while she also makes sure her kids take away an attitude of appreciation that goes beyond the season of giving.
“At Christmastime, my kids want an awful lot, and I want to make sure they understand others aren’t as fortunate as we are. I’m just trying to teach them a good lesson about giving back,” she said.
Both kids explained what they’re going to think about tonight at their own dinner table.
“I’m going to think about how I saved a lot of people’s lives today.” Ben said he’ll think about “the hungry people” and how what he did “today was good,” Lillian said.
Volunteers packed more than 10,000 meals at Friday’s Black Out Hunger Event.
Leawood Rotary Club (https://www.facebook.com/#!/LeawoodRotaryClub)
Stop Hunger Now KC (http://www.stophungernow.org/contact-us)
Kansas City
11888 West 91st Street
Overland Park, KS 66214
913-871-8107
kansascity@stophungernow.org
