Volunteering for an hour can actually be a lot of fun! The help you provide really makes a difference for people who need it. Even if it's your first time, you'll get the hang of the assembly line quickly since they give you easy-to-follow instructions. It's a great way to spend time and do something meaningful with family and friends! read more

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A small group from my office decided to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children. This organization is non profit and relay on donations and volunteers to pack food for children around the world. We checked in and they gave us hairnets. We had to wait for the remainder of the volunteers to arrive. The team members from FMSC went over the safety procedures and how to pack the foods. Everything was well organized and already set up when we started packing the food. It felt amazing that just the small amount of time we dedicated to help this organization to feed children around the world who don't know where their next meal will be. The staff were very friendly and helped us when we weren't sure about something. They also had a small store with hand made products from some of the countries they send the food to. read more

This is a fantastic organization and they make it fun to come and help them pack meals for children that are literally starving to death. I know that's not something here in America we can truly grasp, but its true. Children must be 5+ yrs old, I believe, to participate. Adults can go with a group, or alone, it doesn't matter. Single volunteers can just show up without a reservation. Just check-in when you arrive. Double check packing session start times on their website first. You're doing a great thing by volunteering to help here - financially and/or physically. I've been to the Schaumburg, IL location as well, and imo the Aurora facility is the BEST! So, please go! It'll make your heart happy to bless someone else. read more

This place is a one stop shop Machine for volunteering and feeding those in need around the world. You go, check in, watch a video and get table assignments and BOOM you are a professional packer! It's nerve racking at first but then you get your groove going and next thing you know you are racing other teams for the leader board! Spots fill up fast so be sure to sign up early, great for group and school activities! read more

This is my first time at this location. The place is cleaned and organized. Each ingredient is in its own bin. Lockers are available for whoever needs them. I enjoyed every minute I was there to help pack food. It means a lot to me. The steps of packing were very easy to follow. There were many children who came with their parents or church. Everyone had a positive energy. I found out that one can sign up for the session online. I will come back again with my family in the near future. read more

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Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit organization that packs vegan meals that are shipped all over the world, including the United States. It is a Christian-based organization, however you do not need to be affiliated with any religion to volunteer here! There are 5 packing sessions each day, Monday-Saturday. The first three sessions are 2 hours, the second two sessions are in the evening and are 1.5 hours. There is a wonderful sense of community here! You will put together "bags" of food with people of all ages (need to be 5 years or older), and from very diverse backgrounds. I have so much fun going here with my family, by myself, or with our elementary school 4th graders (their "Make A Difference Club" volunteers here at least one a year!). You can easily signup to volunteer on their website, and also call the friendly staff to help with scheduling a large group. A win-win experience!!! read more

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What better way can you spend just over an hour of your time ? This was my first time doing this. It was pretty fun. Once things get started, the room starts bustling with energy. The set up was efficient, and I enjoyed the videos they played at the end, showing you who you're helping. read more

Feed My Starving Children - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

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We have been coming to this location for YEARS. The past two times we came, we have been denied for not being 18. Today, we went in and there were five people total including us. We all are 17 and turn 18 in less than a month. They denied us again, when we drove all the way here. We offered to do the stickers and they said no. Literally in what way would we come anywhere close to injury applying stickers, scooping rice, filling bags etc. It is absolutely ridiculous that kids missed out on at LEAST 50 meals because we don't meet the age requirement. Please tell me how that is helping our community in any way. This policy is absolutely ridiculous. I will be telling everyone I know to never come here and spend their time elsewhere. Do better feed my starving children. If I could rate this location 0 stars I would. read more

"Many hands make hard work light". One room full of people make tens of thousands of meals for starving children in third world countries. Grouped together in stations, everyone measures, weighs, or boxes the food. -A job even kids can do. You watch a movie and learn what each job entails and then find a station to join. I've worked in meal prep, in the warehouse (you have to be capable of heavy lifting for that job) and I've worked stacking labels. --there are jobs for every ability. It's a well-oiled machine! This is great way to spend part of your time. Think of someone else for a change instead of thinking about yourself. You'll be so glad you did. read more

Can't wait to return! This is a Christian non-profit, but don't fear if you're of a different religion or aren't religious at all. They honestly don't push it on you and even the music that they play while packing won't make you feel uncomfortable. You can sign up for a packing time on their website. They also have sites in Texas, Minnesota, and Arizona and a bunch of mobile areas, just check their site! Once you get to the location and majority of the other volunteers have also arrived, they tell you a little bit about themselves and the impact they make. They proceed by explaining to you what you will be packing and how to pack it. Hair nets, washed hands, and get packing! Of course the food costs money, so they take cash donations and all that, but you can also opt in buying goods and clothing! I took my students here and a lot of them came up with creative ideas for donations, like bake sales and helping out around the house! Great experience for all ages! Volunteers under 18 must have an adult present! read more

So awesome. My friend has done this before and wanted us to do it again. Very simple, one person goes online and signs the group up. Once you go there, you sign in on the computers on the right. Sit down and listen to the brief "orientation". There are lockers for your belongings. Put on a cap, wash your hands and then go to the backroom where all the stations are set up. Each station houses 15 people. Two sides to each station with 7 people on each side and 1 boxer in the middle. A group of 7 can manage one side of a station, 4 scoopers, one person holds the bag, two weighers, one sealer (we eventually switched to 3 scoopers, two bag holders, two weighers, one sealer). The weighing is the most difficult job because if the weight is off, it's your responsibility to fix it by putting in a little more or just removing a little with a mini scooper. Once you get a set amount of bags, the boxer starts putting everything in the box. There is a friendly competition of which station can pack the most boxes. I suggest if you come in a group of 7 or 14/15, go to a station immediately after orientation otherwise you'll have to split up. If you have a smaller group, you can just team up with other small groups. read more

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I always love to give back when I can. This place allows you to pack food to be sent to different 3rd world countries such as Ghana,Djibouti, Philippines, etc. The volunteer time is in 2 hour increments. The first 10 minutes is spent familiarizing with the task about to be performed. They can usually accommodate 50-100 volunteers at a time. The process of packing food is about 1.5 hours the rest will be cleaning time. The leaders are fun, helpful, and organized. I will definitely come back and recommend to anyone when they're feeling generous with their kindness and time . read more

Feed My Starving Children - FSMC - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

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This is not only a way to get service hours for school, but also a way to seriously help the world and have fun doing it. I went here with my friends a few days ago and I had the most enjoyable time. You can help people out and feel good while doing it. read more

As a Midwestern pharmacy student, we were required to do some volunteering outside of school hours for our biochem class. The upperclassmen suggested FMSC so I checked it out. It was really easy to make reservations online for big groups and there are multiple locations to go to. My classmate and I went on a Friday night and surprisingly, there were a lot of volunteers there, also. They had an introductory video to get us hyped up and tell us what the organization is all about. Soon enough, after putting on a hair net, taking off jewelries, and washing my hand, I went to my designated section of putting expiration stickers on the food packages. Everyone was so energetic and I loved that they were blasting music to help the time pass. It was all very casual at the sticker area but the food assembly lines looked more fun to do and required much more teamwork. At the end, they gave us samples of the food that we were packaging to send to areas of need. It was actually quite delicious and I really enjoyed my volunteering experience at FMSC. This is great to bring your kids to let them learn about giving back to society and not take things for granted. read more

Feed My Starving Children - Introduction - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

I have enjoyed our annual outing at FMSC in honor of World Hunger Day over the past four years. We are able to model community service for student mentees in our teen program through hands-on creation of food bags to benefit families is countries around the world. By creating, sorting and packing food as a team we show mentees the benefit and impact when we all work together! read more

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Came here with my mom's work group and a few family members last Saturday morning. I've been to the Schaumburg one and they're both equally great! It is a Christian non-profit organization, but nothing religious is pushed on you (they offer a prayer at the end that's optional, not obligatory). If you've never done this before, give it a try! It's a good way to do some volunteer work with a group of people. Make sure to leave your jewelry at home (or you can put it in a locker - I think they let you keep on wedding bands). You watch a quick intro video in the beginning once everyone is settled in with their hairnets and signing in. Then they'll show you what country you're packing for that day, as well as a demonstration video of the stations and how to properly assemble the packages. It's fairly simple and time goes by fast! I think we were there for about 1.5-2hrs but definitely felt shorter. If your group is competitive you can probably compete with the tables around you for who can package the most! At the end, you can go to the optional prayer in the warehouse or go back to the front bench for the final count. I think they said we packed over 180 boxes (comprising of 36 bags) that session! They also have different opportunities if you want to donate to the organization with purchases or checks. I'll probably go again with my family, whether it's this location or the one in Schaumburg. Morning well spent! read more

By far, my favorite volunteering experience hands down. You are an amazing organization! I did have a few people I saw that were extremely pleasant and the reason I am writing this. A very nice woman with brownish hair named Jessica, an extremely energetic red head named Nora, and a sweet girl named Emily. Thank you all so much for doing God's work. read more

OMG, we just started going to FMSC with a group from our church. It is so much fun & for such a good cause. They play fun, upbeat music & our group challenges ourselves to pack 15-20 boxes or more in the hour & a half we're there. We look forward to it every time. They also have a nice display of giftware for sale made in the countries we're sending the food too. Such an awesome experience! read more

This is a pretty awesome place to volunteer your time. You know the cause is a worthy one : non-profit and over 92% of funds raised go directly to food that is shipped to needy communities across the globe. You can sign up online to work 1.5-2 hour sessions, which flies by. Chat with others and/or sing/groove to the songs. (Though my only complaint is that the soundtrack needs to be switched up.) Be ready to do a repetitive job (as quickly as possible) for much of the time you're there. Of course, it's common for volunteers to switch up tasks. I was a bit intimidated to attend as a single (agnostic) at first, but staff and volunteers are nice. It's a Christian organization, but don't let that deter you if you're not. They definitely aren't judgy or preachy, and you can defer from praying over the packed boxes; no one will oust you, I promise! :) I personally kind of stand back while all of that goes on. Volunteers are encouraged to donate money to help cover the cost of food, but donation is not mandatory. If you don't want to shell out cash or credit card outright, there are plenty of goods and edibles to purchase in their shop that help individuals and communities sustain their livelihood. Cost is $2 and up. Soooo, what are you waiting for?! Don some hairnet swag and pack some food for hungry kids! read more

I went here with Son #4 to pack food. This place is a well oiled machine. You come in, check in and get your hairnet. Then you watch a film and they give a little talk. Next you wash your hands, go into the packing area and they give you directions and set you up. You are working the whole time you are here. You have to wear a hairnet and usually gloves. It depends on your job, but basically you can't touch outside objects or they will make you wash your hands again. You put your purse and phone in a locked locker or you can leave it in your car. Do NOT bring small children here, there is nothing for them to do. We had a little girl in our group who was about 6 and she was having some problems following directions, not being tall enough and generally getting bored. I would say 8 would be the minimum age. Do NOT think you can just mail it in here. You are working nonstop. You are assigned a job and expected to do it. We had the little girl, so we had to keep stopping because she couldn't read the scale, wasn't tall enough, couldn't level off her measuring cup. I am the mother of 4 boys and I was aggravated! You basically want to do as much as you can during your work time and we had to stop and restart a lot. This is a great way to give of your time. They are funded through donations, so your money isn't going to a big machine, it's going right to the food you are packing! read more

Our office went as a group of almost a hundred people to pack food for FMSC yesterday. The experience was very fulfilling. As you enter, there is a small gift shop to your right, and a meeting room. Prior to packing, they show a short video, and explain how to pack the food. I had no idea what I was getting into, I figured we would be packing boxes, I didn't realize we were actually packing dried food into packs to seal and send out. The food we packed yesterday was going to Haiti. The atmosphere was not depressing, rather warm and upbeat. Since everyone in the packing room was a part of my work organization, we had a healthy competition going on which "pod" could pack the most boxes. FMSC had a boombox ready and available with upbeat music to keep us going. We were able to pack 4932 bags of food (which consist of rice, soy, dried vegetables and chicken powder fortified with vitamins and minerals.) 4932 bags of food is 29,592 meals, which is enough to feed 81 children for one year. That feels pretty good! The gift shop has t-shirts, as well as hand-made jewelry, handbags, aprons, etc. from all parts of the world FMSC helps. I bought a cross-body bag that was made by a woman in Swaziland, and the proceeds go toward buying additional supplies for the packing facility (food & shipping supplies.) The only thing I did not "care for" (I can't say I didn't like it, it's just not my cup of tea) is that, as FMSC is a Christian organization, they pray over every palate of food that is shipped out after a pack. I'm just not a religious person. I wanted to do the charity work, but I don't feel that I was doing "God's" work, I was doing charity work because I wanted to. All in all though, a great experience. I know we will be back as an organization to spend a few hours helping others. read more

We have been trying to get our kids into volunteering (our oldest are 9 and 7) and we had a opportunity to go here with my daughter's girl scout troop and I am glad we did. This was great for the whole family, the time really flew by. We were all at the same station and were able to work together. They played music which helped as well. We also got to watch a video before, which really helped to bring the message home to our kids. We also got to try the meal after the session and I loved it. I was the only one in the group so I ate all of there. I wished they sold it there, they could make some money, maybe the mistake bags or something.... just a thought. read more

This is a fantastic place to go with a group of people and prepare meals for third world kids that are in need of nutrition. Typically, a group can do about 32 packs of food per person during their hour there. It's fun because they play music as well as you are in a team environment and they do a good job of explaining where the food is coming (donations), how it's funded (strictly through donations), and who prepares it (volunteers). I've seen kids as young as 7 or 8 be a part of it and it teaches a great concept about how there are kids everywhere in need of nutrition. It gives kids here an early glimpse of what it means to be fortunate. They do a really good job of operating this location on the limited budget they have. The ideal volunteer group (imo) is 5-10 people and be prepared to stay there for about 2 hours total. read more

This is a great experience for all ages young and old. You can bring your friends, family, church group, whatever, and make it fun. I've volunteered here several times and it's always a good bonding experience. You can help package food for adults and babies, to help in the warehouse, and light side work for example labeling expiration stickers to the bags. I love get back when I can! This recent experience I brought my daughter and a girlfriend given spring break week it was a full house. It can be loud on the floor, but exciting because there was alot a shouting for items that were low and needed to be replenished. You can also donate money to the cause anytime. In the beginning the presenter explains about the company and its core values with a small presentation and the dos and don'ts while in the facility. No jewelry on except a wedding band. At the end of the session you can sample what you packaged. read more

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This was an amazing experience! I went with a group from church, there were many other people there too! I really do recommend this for anyone who wants to help those in need. :) read more

A FABULOUS experience! You bust your hump for 2 hours and it is so worth it! Great fun, a fantastic environment, and you could not beat the cause. You will have fun working in the back to pack the food for younger children around the world a lot faster! read more

My 10 and 13 year old and I packed food at Feed My Starving Children for 2 hours. It was fun as we went with a group (you should arrange for your group to do the same!), and it was almost-aerobic-exercise as we worked hard to package as many nutritous food packs as we could. They are well organized, so you can just come in and do the packaging of food for children not getting enough to eat. Helping those in dire straits begins with food. With your donated time, they can ship the food to start the process of development one belly at a time. read more

Ahhh... I love you, feed my starving children. Me and my friends come here a lot, because we like to feel good about ourselves everyone in a while. (And you should too!) George R. has pretty much explained how it works, so I'll just add a few things- They acept donations of any amount, there is a cute little shop in the lobby, and it really is FUN to help. I went and there were people of all ages there. Its a great cause, and the workers are really nice. You need to come! Without vollenteers this place wouldn't run. SO HURRY UP AND GET THERE! GO!!! RIGHT NOW!!! FOR THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

This is an awesome organization. It's a pleasure to support their outreach efforts. The Manna Pack has fed hungry children all over the world for 25 years now and it's been so successful by the Grace of God and the volunteers that have donated time, energy, and money to make things happen. Volunteering with my family is an amazing experience and it's especially beneficial for my son, who has such a giving heart. If you haven't heard of FMSC, check out their website and considering giving a financial gift an volunteering. read more

Looking to give your loved ones a chance at volunteering and charity during summer break? Check out the The Feed My Starving Children Charity in Aurora, IL; a place that has a production line where volunteers pack, seal, and box 400 gram bags of scientifically formulated soy protein, rice, dehydrated carrots, potatoes and vitamins to starving children in Africa, (this particular day we were told our boxes were going to Africa, however this not the only destination). In two hours, 94 of volunteers, of which my son and I were a part Wednesday afternoon, created 99 boxes(36 bags per box) that would make 21,384 nutritious meals, or feed 56 children for a year. The cost of the food we bagged was worth $4,704. This is a place that selfless people enjoy, and is worthy of anyone's time who cares for children. People of all ages were working in our room. The program is well thought out and food inspection sanitary. On some walls there are scriptures from the Bible regarding giving and relying on God for help and hope. Our group prayed over the food once we finished cleaning up--but you don't have to. A small store is inside the building from which food materials are purchased to help make more food bags from its proceeds. My son and I received a sample of the food cooked as it would be in Africa. I didn't care for it much but that matters not...it saves lives and that is the point. I was glad for the opportunity to taste it as I would have wondered on my way out what it tasted like if they hadn't offered the sample. I can only say the old adage is still truth: 'tis better to give than to receive. read more

Have been here for various organizations and have always been impressed with how well run, organized and efficient they are here. They make it a fun, upbeat, experience. Also great if you need community service hours for scouts or for graduating high school. It is easy to sign up online for a volunteer time slot. It is also nice that they have jobs for all age groups. Everyone from 5-90 could find a task that they are comfortable doing. All in all it is a great experience and you leave feeling happy! read more

My son and I decided to volunteer yesterday, the idea itself is pretty good. However, is pretty unorganized. You have people giving attitude, when all you're trying to do is help. Would I go again, probably not. I would much rather sponsor a child. Maybe, it was the group of people I was stuck with, Who knows. read more

A FABULOUS experience! You bust your hump for 2 hours and it is so worth it! Great fun, a fantastic environment, and you could not beat the cause. read more

I have heard about this place from other people who have been here before and they had great things to say. I had to do volunteering for school so I decided to go here to get some hours done. I was here for 3 sessions in a day and it was really great. It was easy, fun, and a great thing about this place is that they do a prayer at the end for the food to arrive safely to its destination. It was really wonderful working here and I will be back to do more volunteering. read more

It's an amazing place, with amazing workers. It's a nice place and I love the cause. My first time wasn't great. I was with my family (6) and we asked if we could have our own table so we can do it as a family and it could totally works. When we asked the lady said yea we can it works but when we finally went in back the same worker said that we couldn't all of a sudden and I had mixed emotions about that. So I was so upset and it like ruined my first experience there. Now this is my third time doing it and it's great it fun and super great for the people that we help. read more

Wow, this was probably the only time I can remember where a little assembly line work amongst like minded friends can produce a lot of tangible good in very little time. Its like that old adage, many hands make light work. If you want to feel like you can make a difference and would be interested in stemming the depressing statistic that over 18,000 children succumb to death by starvation every single waking day, this is the place to volunteer your time. It starts with a hairnet, an oritentation, a handwashing, and a very simple 6 step system to package 400 grams worth of powder, veggies, soy and rice into a plastic bag that is sealed and packaged to make it both palletable and nutritious to a starving child. For the first time after a couple of hours work I felt like I put a dent into something that seems as overwhelming as world hunger. What a great program. Its probably the most fun you can have standing up. Its a faith based program but all beliefs are welcomed and food is shipped all over the world. read more