Each year since 2010, Kappa Upsilon Chi, or KYX, has purchased raw materials from the nonprofit organization Feed My Starving Children to produce thousands of sealed and packaged meals to help feed hungry children around the globe.
Members of KYX and other volunteers will come together Thursday to package the meals – made up of soy, dried vegetables and protein-enriched rice – at the Central Baptist Church in College Station. Their goal is to produce more than 100,000 meals.
“These meals have the potential to feed over 300 starving children for an entire year,” said Brett Dossey, senior business major and member of KYX who helped with fundraising and coordination of the mobile pack events.
Dossey said the partnership between KYX and FMSC has grown considerably since it was formed in 2010.
“[The event has] changed over the years,” Dossey said. “At first it was just 17 cents per meal and we raised $17,000. This year it’s 22 cents per meal and we have raised $22,000. It’s a lot more organized and there’s more fundraising.”
Some members of KYX said they particularly enjoy the hands-on atmosphere the mobile pack events create.
“Rather than just throwing money at a charity to help feed the kids, we purchase the ingredients ourselves and pack the food by hand,” said Brad Baxter, junior finance major and member of KYX. “This helps us feed more people for less money. We also get to bring a bunch of people together with the event which helps create more brotherhood throughout the community.”
Baxter said the coordination of the food packaging events is a team effort.
“There aren’t a select few people who are designated to organize the event themselves,” Baxter said. “It takes more than one person to make the event work, which helps bring us even closer.”
Zac Wiltz, sophomore university studies major and member of KYX, said he looks forward to the difference he will be able to make through the mobile pack event.
“When you get to actually pack the food yourself, you feel like you’re physically making a difference and you’re doing the work of God,” Wiltz said. “It’s very different than simply making a donation to a hunger charity.”
Daniel Mullins, president of KYX and junior recreation, park and tourism sciences major, said he believes the event perfectly communicates the message of KYX.
“Obviously, it’s a group effort,” Mullins said. “We’re able to bring together different people to share the gospel. It’s an extraordinary experience as a college student to be able to do this. We simply want to look as much like Jesus as possible.”