Around the world every day, 16,000 malnourished children die of starvation.  That is the equivalent of around 80 percent of the Stillwater population disappearing every day.  Starvation is one of the most prominent and terrible worldwide problems of our generation.

There are people and organizations, however, who are fighting to end this abundance of malnourishment, and one large group has a station here in Stillwater.  Meals From the Heart is a meal packing organization, similar to that of Feed My Starving Children, headed by Tom Thiets.  Groups of students will often pack meals together, which will then be shipped off to a multitude of foreign countries, or they will be distributed to those in need in our own community.

Meals From the Heart is the brainchild of Thiets, who had the idea while helping some friends overseas.

“Eight years ago while leading a mission to Tanzania,” said Thiets, “my mission partners asked me to help them with their food supply.  I returned home and found out about a variety of meal packing agencies.  They all pack similar meals, but use different approaches to organize, fundraise and promote the process.”

He added, “Over the six years of organizing major packing events in Minnesota and New York, I learned a lot and have launched a new brand of meals through a mission non-profit agency that I founded 20 years ago. Meals from the Heart by Mano Amiga Inc.  Mano Amiga is a Stillwater-based 501c3 non-profit organization that provides groups from churches and schools with expert leadership in high-quality short-term mission experiences.”

Students attend meal packing events with this organization and help save lives.  The meals students pack contain special formulas full of nutrients essential to a healthy diet, and are also rice-based because of how universal the consumption of rice is.  After being packed, the meals are shipped off to those in need.

“Our events provide domestic and global hunger relief,” said Thiets.  “We provide meals locally to about 15 food shelves through a partnership with Ruby’s Pantry as well as supporting meal programs with partner churches in St. Paul. Last year we distributed almost one million meals to food shelves in New York and New Jersey, supporting relief efforts to victims of Hurricane Sandy. We ship to global missions through two partners: Global Health Ministries, based in Minnesota, and Lifeline Christian Mission, based in Ohio.”

The effect that these meal packing events have on students’ lives is quite impressive as well.

“It’s had a huge impact on my life,” said junior Catherine Wessel.  “I’ve always loved mission work and directly helping the poor, and it’s just the perfect way to get involved and save another person’s life without even having to go to their country.  It’s so convenient for us, too.  The idea that we can go somewhere so close to help people thousands of miles away really attracts me to it.  I just try and think about all the families we’re helping while I’m packing the meals, and at the end of the event, they read off the number of children we fed from packing meals for just two hours and it makes you so proud and determined to come back and pack more.  It’s made me realize how easy it can be to directly help people in foreign countries.”

Oftentimes, students do not particularly know what to expect when going to a meal packing event.

“The first time I went to Meals From the Heart, I was forced to go by my church group,” said senior Emily Johnson.  “I was really surprised when it was so fun.  I enjoyed it the entire time, and I was just completely shocked.  It’s really a great thing to do with friends.  Honestly, it’s so weird to think about how much of a difference one person can make, but meal packing for just a little while can feed so many people.  It’s truly an amazing thing.”

The overall effect of organizations like Meals From the Heart on the local and global community show just how much one person with an idea can change things.