A guest post from FMSC supporter Jennifer Moulton, who has challenged herself — and you! — to pack at all eight permanent packing sites.

It all began for me back in 2011. The church my husband and I were attending at the time decided to host a MobilePack™ event in the gym, and my husband and I donated to the cause. When packing day came, I remember my utter amazement at how smoothly the process went and how much fun it was. I wanted to experience that same fun again.

Fast forward to 2012: Somehow I was informed that there would be a permanent packing site built in Libertyville, Illinois, which is not terribly far from where I live. I signed up with great eagerness for my very first session in a permanent packing site. Again, I was able to experience the great feeling of packing with a group of people. We all shared an agenda: to pack meals for children around the world while having fun doing it. I have been a dedicated packer ever since.

I got the idea that I wanted to complete one “bucket list” dream: go to all eight permanent packing facilities in the United States and pack at least one session. I had already been to the Mesa, Arizona, packing site in 2016 during a vacation and I had packed many, many times in the Libertyville, Illinois, site. Since I live in the Midwest, it wasn’t a stretch to complete the remaining Illinois and Minnesota sites.

In 2020, something called a global pandemic really got in the way of fulfilling my dream. As FMSC opened back up in July 2020, I was asked to take part in their pilot program to get packing up and running again with the changes required to make packing as safe as possible. I felt very honored to be one of the people chosen, as there were only 10 people allowed to pack at any one session at the time. It was great fun to get back into packing — even if I was packing completely by myself at my own station. I learned how to do ALL the jobs and not just focus on the ones I considered my favorites.

Over that summer, I went to the other two permanent packing sites in Illinois: Schaumburg and Aurora. In summer 2021, I was able to pack in all three permanent packing sites in Minnesota: Eagan, Chanhassen and Coon Rapids. I have now completed seven of the eight sites of my “bucket list” dream. In the winter, I plan on getting to the Richardson, Texas, site to fulfill the rest of my dream.

I have been supporting FMSC since 2012 — with my energy, time, prayers and, yes, money — because I am a big believer in their philosophy: Children can’t be healthy, grow and learn without nutritious food.

I highly encourage everyone reading this, please support FMSC with prayers and money as you are able. One absolutely painless way to support FMSC is through Amazon Smile. Simply go to smile.amazon.com and choose FMSC as your preferred charity. Anything you purchase through this link will automatically donate a portion of your purchase to FMSC without any additional cost to you.

If you are within a reasonable distance to a permanent packing site, go there and pack. If you aren’t near a permanent site, look on the website for MobilePack™ opportunities near you — or be the person who starts a MobilePack™ opportunity in your area.

All of these activities are even more crucial since COVID-19 hit the world. Children are still literally starving, despite the pandemic. There is never a better time than right now to support FMSC with prayers, money and volunteer packing.

Finally, if you are able to, I hope you get to each permanent packing site in the nation and pack at least once. You will really be blessed by this objective, as I have been! I can hardly wait until I get to all the sites — and any new ones too!