Many volunteers have been recruited but more are still needed for the Orphan Grain Train Mercy Meals packing project later this month in Great Bend.

Great Bend coordinator Cindy Warner Dayton is a board member of the OGT collection center in Larned.

She noted Saturday morning she is still short about eight teams of 10 members each for the massive food packaging project taking place on Saturday, March 25 at Heartland Church at 4907 10th St. in Great Bend.

“We’ve got 22 teams already, so that’s about 220 people,” Dayton said. “We are still looking for more; we’ll need about eight more teams to do it right.”

Another 25-30 volunteers will be needed for miscellaneous tasks while the teams go to work, she said. “We’ve got several groups involved already.” Youth volunteers from Ellinwood and Hoisington have joined the Great Bend High School National Honor Society members to help package the meals, beginning at 9 a.m. on March 25 until they’re finished. The plan is to package some 50,000 meals, so there’s a lot to do, she said.

Equipment for the project will arrive at the Heartland Church around 3 p.m. Friday, March 24. Dayton notes that she’s already recruited about a half-dozen volunteers to unload and set up.

About Mercy Meals

The Norfolk Neb.-based Orphan Grain Train parent organization and its regional collection centers in the Great Plains have been packaging meal bags, which feed about six people per bag, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meals are distributed to about 20 countries and to food banks and disaster relief stations across the country.

This will be the first time a collection center from Kansas has participated in the project.

Dayton noted that funding for the project is still ongoing, and donations are appreciated. Last weekend the OGT Rummage Sale in Larned netted about $1,400, but there is still a ways to go.

For those with questions about OGT, the Mercy Meals project, to volunteer or to donate, contact Dayton at 620-792-442 or by cellphone, 620-639-1891.