K-State Olathe takes a swipe at hunger to help famine victims; volunteers and donors needed for food packaging event
Monday, Aug. 12, 2013
OLATHE -- Numana SWIPE Out Hunger, a food-packaging event for worldwide famine victims, will be 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at Kansas State University Olathe, 22201 W. Innovation Drive, and community help is needed. The event requires volunteers to package meals and financial contributions to purchase the meals.
More than 150 volunteers from schools, industry, alumni and the community are needed. During the 2012 event at K-State Olathe, more than 22,000 meals were packaged. Statewide, 16 Kansas campuses featured Swipe events that used the help of more than 4,300 volunteers and produced 597,424 packaged meals that were sent to famine victims. The goal this year at K-State Olathe is at least 30,000 meals.
Contributing sponsors allow K-State Olathe to purchase more meal ingredients for packaging, thus reaching more victims. Donors and sponsors may contribute on the event website at http://olathe.k-state.edu/k-12/numana-swipe.html.
Director of K-12 science education partnerships at K-State Olathe, Micheal Strohschein, is working with the Johnson County school districts to create student and teacher teams, as well as coordinating a quarter challenge in the schools.
"One quarter provides a nutritious and life-saving meal," Strohschein said. "We take for granted that our next meal will be readily available. We're helping to provide safe, nutritious meals that allow people to fuel their bodies without fear."
The packaged meals consist of rice, soy protein, freeze-dried pinto beans, and 21 vitamins and minerals targeted to help the immune system of malnourished people. During the packaging event, these ingredients are measured into bags, sealed, boxed and prepared for shipment. The cost of each life-sustaining meal is only 25 cents. This includes all ingredients, packaging, administration and international shipping of the container.
The quarter challenge pits student and adult teams in a quarter war to see who can get the most quarters donated to purchase the meals. The challenge runs through Sept. 10.
To register teams and get started on the quarter challenge, visit the Numana page on K-State Olathe's website at http://olathe.k-state.edu/k-12/numana-swipe.html. For more information, contact Strohschein at 913-307-7342 or mistroh@k-state.edu.
Kansas State University Olathe advances the mission of Kansas State University by integrating education, research and entrepreneurship focused on animal health, food safety and security.
