Food for My Kin: When Did We See You Hungry?
Event Location: Trinity Presbyterian Church – Valdosta, Georgia
Food for My Kin was a Flint River Presbytery overnight youth retreat which focused on raising awareness on world hunger and food insecurity. There were 8 youth in total and 6 Adults who attended the event. There were two churches involved. The youth from the two churches formed friendships and expressed interest in meeting again.
Youth in grades 6-12 arrived on Friday, March 10 and were treated to a Middle-Eastern lentil soup by one of our volunteers, a professional cook. As they ate their meal, they learned about how refugees struggle to survive in the Middle-East, and observed pictures of refugee camps and areas with high poverty. After dinner, we engaged in Session 1 of the “When Did We See You?” PYT Connect resources, adding emphasis that seeing the unseen means acknowledging the struggles of food insecurity and learning how to help.
The following morning, we were served rice porridge, or congee, as we learned about starvation and food insecurity in Asia. Then we engaged in Session 2 of the curriculum. Youth volunteered in Trinity’s local food pantry, where they learned how many members of the community the pantry serves and what it takes to keep the pantry running. Youth wrote messages to food pantry recipients and helped pack bags for distribution.
Closing activities featured an American cuisine entitled “Depression Cookies” which was invented by the great grandparents of our volunteer cook who learned how to survive the Great Depression. We discussed current issues of food insecurity in the United States featuring current statistics. We engaged in Session 3 of the curriculum before departure.
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