2007 Meal Marathon Results

by Mindy Behl (COTN Summer Communications Intern)

Over a thousand Children of the Nations volunteers rallied together Friday, May 4, 2007 to package food for children in Uganda, Africa, at the Meal Marathon held at Silverdale United Methodist Church.

“So much was going on that it looked chaotic, yet there was much organization to it, just very busy people,” said National Feeding Director, Doug Hanson.

COTN’s annual Meal Marathon is an event full of music, conversation, and production lines, with a full meal as the final product. Youth groups, churches, neighbors, family and friends came out to lend a hand to COTN. Working side-by-side, the groups and individuals packaged the food by filling, weighing, and sealing bags full of lentils, spice, chicken and rice.

Now in its third year, the Meal Marathon is an established COTN event. The success of a 2005 Tsunami Relief program fueled the idea for the event. In 2006, COTN’s first “official” Meal Marathon benefited children in Malawi, Africa. Now, in its third year, COTN sees the remarkable success of the event and looks forward to future Meal Marathons. “Last year we took two days to package this food. This year we did it in 10 hours!” says Dave Spoon, COTN Washington Feeding Coordinator.