Just How Hungry Are You?

My own children often declare that they are “starving to death,” but are they really? Join us at our dinner table or join me as I buy groceries each week, and you’ll realize that food is not an issue at our house. In their world view, however, “starving to death” could mean anything from being bored to not having supper at the exact time their stomachs think it should be served.

It’s come to my attention that if my own boys need to learn more about hunger, then my GAs probably do as well. This month, as you and your GAs, RAs, or CAs learn more about the work of Send Relief and the work they do to provide help for those in need around the word, challenge your children’s group to earn their Global Hunger Relief Badge/Patch through one of these project suggestions:

• Grocery Bag Art: Have children decorate paper grocery bags with their artwork or stickers. Challenge children to choose a Scripture verse to write on the bag in addition to creating a neat piece of artwork for the bag. These bags can be used by your local grocery store to promote a food pantry collection, or they can be used by your food pantry to pack groceries for clients.
• Soup Kitchen Helpers: While young children often cannot help serve or prepare meals for a soup kitchen experience, they can help clean tables, play games with children who are there, and visit with people who are eating a meal there. With some preparation about what to expect and what their role is, your children can help create a compassionate and fun atmosphere for those who visit your local soup kitchen.
• Food Delivery Assistants: Does your church have a meal delivery ministry for local homebound or elderly people? Have your children help deliver the meals along with a craft they made or an artificial flower.

As with any children’s project, making sure children understand what they are doing and why is a key element. Children are concrete thinkers and understand what it means to be hungry. Once they realize that there are people in your community who are seriously hungry every day and they can be part of the solution, don’t be surprised if they want to continue with these types of projects!