(Newswire.net — March 18, 2014) — Teen Eagle Scout Project to Tackle World Hunger
Raymond Martin, a Life Scout at Boy Scout Troop 275 in Choctaw, a Junior at Choctaw High School will host a food packaging event at Choctaw United Methodist Church on May 31st from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Martin will be assisted by the Stop Hunger Now Organization. Martin and 40 volunteers will package 10,000 meals in 4 hours; at a cost of 35 cents per meal or $3,500.
Martin is currently seeking donations to fund this project. All donations can be made through the Go Fund Me Web Site at: http://gofundme.com/7d5o30
Eagle Scout Candidate Raymond Martin
When asked what inspired martin to undertake this endeavor he said, “Everyone should be able to eat, to know that they will eat tomorrow and be able to grow up knowing they are worthwhile people.” Martin learned of Stop Hunger Now while attending the 2013 national Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia last July. He said, “When I visited the stop Hunger Now booth I was amazed that they could provide a meal for such a small amount of money and that I knew even I could help and make a difference.”
Stop Hunger Now began operations in 1998 and started the Packaging Events in 2005. Since 2005 Stop Hunger Now has packaged 135 Million Meals. This week alone they have packaged over 350,000 meals. When asked if this project was too much for him to handle, Martin responds by sharing a quote from Mother Teresa, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time. I can only feed one person at a time, just one, one, one.” By looking at the enormous problem of World Hunger in this manner Martin says we can solve the problem on person at a time. He said, ‘Even I can do that”.
The Packaging Event utilizes the assembly line method to quickly and efficiently fill and seal the bags of food for future distribution. The following pictures and the attached video highlight this event.
Volunteers work in assembly line fashion to package the rice, soy protein nutrients and vitamins into pre-labeled plastic bags to be sealed and made ready for shipping.
As a candidate for Eagle Scout, Raymond Martin, along with just 2% of all Boy Scouts have earned at least 21 Merit Badges, Martin has earned 36, with plans for more. The Candidate is required to plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or the community. This project is initially approved by the Eagle Board of Review, who then once completed with all requirements approves martin as an Eagle Scout. (The Eagle Requirements are listed here: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/eagle.aspx)
Hunger is an issue to be dealt with locally and globally. Martin has partnered with Stop Hunger Now, an organization begun in 1998. The first Packaging event was held in 2005. Since then Stop Hunger Now has packaged over 135 million meals, serving 65 countries including the USA. Their web site is www.storhungernow.org There is additional information regarding the organization and the Packaging Event. This week, Sunday March 9, to Thursday March 13, 2014 Stop Hunger Now has already packaged 871.278 meals. Ann Frank said, “Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Martin believes this is one of those moments, “improving the world one meal at a time, one person at a time, I can handle that, I can do that, we can do that, not all of the hungry in the world but one at a time”. (Ray Martin) Go to Youtube.com and enter search for Stop Hunger Now and Raymond Martin Eagle Project Stop Hunger Now.
‘What we want everyone to know is that hunger is solvable and is the common thread among the world’s most challenging issues. When hunger is targeted you give leverage and hope to every other cause including poverty, disease, education, and the welfare of women and children.” (Rod Brooks, President and CEO of Stop Hunger Now
Facts: Nearly 870 million people, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010 – 2012. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, 2012)
Undernourishment kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined. (USAID, 2012)
Almost 1 Billion people will go to bed hungry tonight; 200 Million of them are children. (USAID, 2013)