Local relief agency aims for 285,000 meals
How many people does it take to make 285,000 meals in one day?
A local church-based relief agency is about to find out.
"The goal for this weekend is pretty aggressive," says Fraser Ratzlaff of Children of the Nations.
Friday two semi-trucks filled with food and supplies arrived at the Mill Creek Foursquare Church in Lynnwood. Ratzlaff and a handful of volunteers worked to get everything sorted and ready for Saturday's marathon of meal-packing.
"We're trying to package 285,000 meals, which is the number it takes to fill a 40-foot ocean shipping container with these packets," explains Ratzlaff.
That container will then be shipped to Sierra Leone West Africa where Children of the Nation's staff are waiting to distribute the meals to orphans and foster children.
"There's literally thousands upon thousands of children that are orphaned due to the war and the AIDS disease," says Ratzlaff. The war he's referring to was a 10 year civil war which was declared over nearly 8 years ago, still the devastation from that conflict remains.
Nearly 1,000 volunteers are expected at Mill Creek Foursquare Church on Saturday, but Ratzlaff says they're hoping hundreds more just drop by.
Kristin Bushnell with Children of the Nation says the organization has a 14 year history of working in Africa and the Dominican Republic with a specific focus on children without parents.
Ratzlaff says he knows they'll reach their goal, "Even if I have to stay here all night."
For more information on Children of the Nations visit their website: www.cotni.org
A local church-based relief agency is about to find out.
"The goal for this weekend is pretty aggressive," says Fraser Ratzlaff of Children of the Nations.
Friday two semi-trucks filled with food and supplies arrived at the Mill Creek Foursquare Church in Lynnwood. Ratzlaff and a handful of volunteers worked to get everything sorted and ready for Saturday's marathon of meal-packing.
"We're trying to package 285,000 meals, which is the number it takes to fill a 40-foot ocean shipping container with these packets," explains Ratzlaff.
That container will then be shipped to Sierra Leone West Africa where Children of the Nation's staff are waiting to distribute the meals to orphans and foster children.
"There's literally thousands upon thousands of children that are orphaned due to the war and the AIDS disease," says Ratzlaff. The war he's referring to was a 10 year civil war which was declared over nearly 8 years ago, still the devastation from that conflict remains.
Nearly 1,000 volunteers are expected at Mill Creek Foursquare Church on Saturday, but Ratzlaff says they're hoping hundreds more just drop by.
Kristin Bushnell with Children of the Nation says the organization has a 14 year history of working in Africa and the Dominican Republic with a specific focus on children without parents.
Ratzlaff says he knows they'll reach their goal, "Even if I have to stay here all night."
For more information on Children of the Nations visit their website: www.cotni.org