When many students were gearing up for vacations over Thanksgiving break, three Bridgeport students and three teachers were donning hairnets and rubber gloves in an effort to help end world hunger.  Caroline Nichols, Sarah Sprouse and Morgan Sprouse initiated the project during the annual United Methodist Church Fall Workshop, held in Cedar Lakes.  

 

The project was hatched last summer when the three girls attended the Summer Youth 2019 Conference in Kansas City.  Youth groups in attendance were given service projects and the Bridgeport team was partnered with Rise Against Hunger, a non-profit organization whose goal is to end world hunger by 2030 as part of the United Nations Sustainable Goals.  To date, Rise Against Hunger has packed over 500 million meals for 77 countries around the world, serving nearly 800,000 people.

 

After experiencing the impact on world hunger assistance first-hand last summer, the girls suggested working with Rise Against Hunger for part of the program at the United Methodist Church Fall Workshop in West Virginia.  BHS teachers Jared Brown, Renee Warner, and Becky Mearns, who also serves as the Dean of Women at the conference, also attended the workshop and helped with the project.  Together, the group packaged 30,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger.   

 

“Participating in this project has been very impactful,” said BHS’s Caroline Nichols.  “I am so blessed by God and to be able to help others in a tangible way is such a privilege.”

 

The meals that the group prepared will be distributed to the citizens around the world who are currently experiencing the debilitating effects of hunger.  Rise Against Hunger utilizes a global network of partners dedicated to ending world hunger through educational initiatives, addressing inequalities, stimulating global economies, fighting child labor and improving dietary options and resources.  The organization also responds to natural disasters, conflict zones and political unrest that can often have a significant impact on poverty and hunger.