I've volunteered at Feed My Starving Children - Eagan, MN many times in the past with close friends, and it continues to be one of the most rewarding ways to give back. I try to go monthly, though I've been out of rhythm I'd say probably the last year, so it felt great to jump back in tonight. This session was extra special because my niece and nephew joined me for the evening shift. We packed meals for Peru, and it was so heartwarming to see how excited they were about the impact we were making and memories we created together. They were thrilled by the number of boxes our table packed and kept chatting about the jobs they were assigned (even in the car ride home)--like it was the highlight of their week! The energy at FMSC is always bright! It's upbeat, organized, and truly family-friendly. The staff does a great job keeping everything running smoothly while reminding us why this work matters, and showing appreciation and gratitude for our time and efforts. It's just two hours, but the sense of purpose and connection you leave with lasts much longer. Can't recommend this place enough--for families, groups, or anyone looking to make a real difference while having some fun. I look forward to resuming my monthly packing sessions. read more

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FMSC Eagan is my favorite place to volunteer with my kids. I've probably volunteered 30+ times over the years. Their organizers are awesome to work with! Their online reservation system is so easy and convenient. Their preparation videos are informative and gives me so much inspiration. Even the way they sell merchandise in order to fund their operations is outstanding. No matter the volunteer role I take, I always walk away thinking that my help was really valued and meaningful. They always tell us how many children will benefit from the work completed in each shift. Great value for my time and SO POWERFUL! When you arrive to volunteer, they give you a hair bonnet and access to their lockers where you can store valuables. Personally, I prefer to leave my items at home or in my car, then I just keep my cell phone and keys in my pocket while I volunteer. The volunteer shift is only about 90 minutes and doesn't even feel like work. There are 3 types of volunteer roles: 1. Label Stickers. If you need to be sitting during your shift, this is the job for you! 2. Warehouse restockers. If you like to work out and use lots of muscles while volunteering, this role is for you! However, the warehouse are is not air conditioned so make sure you know that before taking a summer shift. 3. Meal Preppers. They need about 90% of the volunteers in these roles. They folks work in teams of 11 to prep ingredients into small plastic packages and then sealing several packages into large boxes. VITAMINS, VEGGIES, SOY, RICE! So grab some friends and volunteer together! I think you'll enjoy the experience. read more

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It really was an honor and a joy to help out at FMSC bagging food which is sent around the world to help those communities where nutritious food is not readily available! read more

Feed My Starving Children - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Eagan, Minnesota

As others have correctly and appropriately noted, FMSC is a Christian faith-based organization. They are very up front about it. However, they take great care to inform volunteers that they need not share their faith. Nor is there any litmus test applied to recipients of their food. Much of it goes to feed people of other faiths and religions as well as those who may have no formal religious beliefs at all. It sounds like theirs is a loving and beneficent God. As far as the actual activity itself, I've volunteered at this location many times. The work is great for corporate team building, friends looking for something different and more rewarding than a typical outing or any person or group wishing to give back. Several reviewers have described in detail the mechanics/logistics of how the process works. I won't repeat their thorough reportage. Suffice it to say that the time flies by and when they announce that your volunteer shift is over you'll likely feel disappointed. You may feel like your team has just hit its stride and wish to keep going a while longer. Clean up goes quickly and you then are told how many meals your station prepared, how many boxes were filled and how many children your total output would feed. This evening, our team produced enough to feed 10 children for an entire year. A humbling and gratifying accomplishment. The staff is invariably upbeat, enthusiastic, well organized and passionate about this organization. They will make a pitch asking you to donate money before you leave. Again, in my mind there is nothing coercive or duplicitous about this. It's not a "gotcha" tossed in at the end. It is a sincere request, clearly stated and well reasoned. Simply put, the money is needed to purchase the food supplies that we volunteers package. They ask that after donating your time (for which they express their gratitude and appreciation) you consider donating a portion of your treasure as well. It's a message I find compelling each time. But in my experience you will never be pressured or made to feel uncomfortable if you find otherwise. If you're looking for a worthy cause and can offer an hour and a half to two hours of your time, you may want to give FMSC a chance to work its charm on you. read more

This was my second time volunteering at this location. The first time was on a weeknight so it was pretty sparse on volunteers but I went with work yesterday on a Saturday evening and it was packed! We luckily got a large station to fit our work family and smashed the competition! Employees here seem okay. Tired and not as upbeat as other locations but maybe that was due to the weekend and large volunteer load. read more

I did Feed My Starving Children twice this year. I really need to go back and do some more volunteer work! I love volunteer work, especially for the helpless ones. This organization is amazing. People there are friendly and organized. It's an easy process to do. You bagged four items into a bag: vegetables, rice, soy, and vitamins/minerals. It goes by really fast! It takes about 30 to 40 minutes of your time to do many bags as possible. I think this service is great for anyone who is willing to help feed the children for the kids in third world country. I strongly suggest everyone to do it! You will definitely feel a lot better about yourself after doing great work! There are three locations: Coon Rapids, Eagan, and Chanhassan. read more

A wonderful experience. I'd never done this type of volunteering before. Most of the other volunteers seemed to know what they were doing. I went alone and was concerned that I'd feel out of place and regret making the drive. No such problem. The group I worked with were very nice and they soon had me up to speed. Although my job was very repetitive I was shocked to see how quickly the time passed. The FMSC staff was outstanding. At the beginning they gave us an overview of what we would be doing as well as showing who and how it would help. At the end they got us all back together to show us our results. I believe the number was 84 children in Honduras that would be fed for a year from the food this group packaged in about 90 minutes. I recommend this for anyone interested. You won't regret. I will do it again. read more

Yelp Helps September Volunteer event brought my son and I here on a Monday night. We previously volunteered at a mobile community packing event in Apple Valley so we knew what to do. A short intro about their organization is on power point slides. They are a Christian organization who welcome all people to volunteer or donate and the food is distributed to starving children throughout the world, even in unsafe areas. My son and I scooped chicken and veggie mix into a funnel then he held the bag, next its weighed to be between 380-400 grams then sealed. After that it is placed on a table to be packed. Kara packed 36 bags per box. Our team did 17 boxes and fed 10 kids for a year. We were there 1.5 hours. We also cleaned up efficiently as a team. There are sit down positions as labelers. Highly recommend as an easy volunteer job. Even kids can help. read more

Feed My Starving Children - We fed 10 kids for a year. All in 1.5 hours time. - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Eagan, Minnesota

This is a Christian-values based organization that is open to everyone and provides food to countries in need regardless of the recipient's religion/race/etc... I have volunteered several times at the Eagan location and I love it! You can gather a group or walk in and give your time. There's no pressure to make an additional donation other than that, but certainly there are more opportunities if you can contribute financially. Each packing session typically consists of an hour and a half to a two hour commitment. Rice, vegetables, soy (with various nutrients included), and chicken flavoring are in each Manna pack that helps children and adults facing the realities of starvation. At the end of every session, the staff tells you how much your groups packed, how many meals you've provided to feed an average of people, offers an opportunity for prayer for the shipment, and thanks you again for your time. I particularly enjoy hearing about the stories of children that are in school and receiving the nutrition they so desperately need. read more

I have volunteered here several times over the years. It has always been a fun time and the volunteer event with Yelp Helps was no exception! The FMSC Eagan location has definitely received a make-over in the time that I haven't been there and it looks great! They now have a marketplace that sells artisan goods made by people in the countries that the packed meals go out to. Each purchase goes towards providing meals as well, and there's a tag on each product that tells you just how much of an impact the purchase makes. The Yelp Squad and I were there for about 1.5 hours. There was a 15 minute intro/orientation before we spent the next hour packing meals. I had such a wonderful time packing meals and chatting with fellow Yelpers about our favorite restaurants, it made the time go by so fast. After we finished packing up our last box and cleaning our area, the staff gave closing remarks. I appreciated that they showed us stats to see the progress we made. We were able to pack 17 boxes (approximately 3,700 meals) which feeds 10 children for a YEAR! It's always great seeing the numbers in the end and to see how much of an impact we made in just one hour! You can tell that all the staff are very passionate about the work that they do. FMSC doesn't receive any government funding and thrive off of donations (just $80 can feed one child for a full year). All of food that they send out is packed by volunteers, which is still so amazing. There's always work for everyone to do - young and old. There are also sit down jobs as well if you're unable to stand for long periods of time or just don't want to. read more

Feed My Starving Children - so proud of the Yelp Helps crew tonight! - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Eagan, Minnesota

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All star program ran by all star people. Easy to sign up and COVID prevention friendly! Highly recommended!

This place is doing a good thing and it felt good to be a part of it. We did it as a work event, it was a good team building exercise while helping others! While the introduction and the rules do get a little lengthy and drawn out, they do show you the story of a young child that was malnourished when he was found abandoned by his mother and they show you the difference having the food made for him in his life and that is what gets you motivated to go fill the food bags and prepare them for shipping! Once we got through the hand washing station we made it into the packing room. They split us up at tables with our groups which creates a nice and fun competitive atmosphere. They encouraged us to have different cheers and chants for when we needed another box, which makes you feel like you are slacking and need to speed up, or you find out other tables are catching up and you need to work harder to keep the lead! Our group was two tables, one of which packed 38 boxes and of course, my table, managed 40 boxes! They have 4 people fill the food, each one has one ingredient they dump into the funnel then someone takes the bag off the funnel and weighs it to make sure we have the proper amount of food and they then hand it to the person running the sealing machine (that's what I did). I then put the bag on a table next to me where one person organized and counted the proper amount and then packed them into the box. It was a lot of fun and a great team building exercise, as long as you are interested in having fun and cheering on your friends. The only part that is a little bit of a drag, as other people have said, is that they do make it a pretty religious message. However, they do say that anybody can help and donate, they do not discriminate on that whatsoever. Also, the food goes to people of all beliefs, they do not discriminate there either. The concept just comes from a religious background is all. I would definitely do it again if I was with a group or organization that was doing it and I would recommend it to anybody looking to volunteer. The time flies by as the competition heats up! read more

Feed My Starving Children is a great place to do work outings. I've been to this location twice now and it's been a ton of fun with both of the groups I went with. It's so easy to contribute! You just show up, they have everything ready for you, and you work your station and get to know your neighbors for an hour or two. They play lighthearted music, encourage teams to compete, and really make it fun to volunteer. At the end they will give you a recap of how many meals everyone collectively prepared, which only solidifies the good feelings of helping the families in need. The only reason I wouldn't give it five stars is the strong religious message, which I think could/ought to be toned down for work groups. We are happy to help a good cause, but it's a uncomfortable situation to be put in with your coworkers. read more

It's not what Feed My Starving Children does for you... it's what you do for them. Giving back does just as much for you as it does for those who you help! Grab a group of friends, family, co-workers, high school football players, church group or strangers on the street and head to FMSC! They have 3 locations in the TC - Coon Rapids, Chanhassen and Eagan and several in the Chicago area. I've volunteered at each MN location and Eagan is by far my favorite. It has the largest space and capacity for your group. When you arrive at FMSC they play a video showing you what you will be doing, others testimonies from their experience and to whom your food will be given to. The volunteering costs nothing for your group, but donations are welcomed as FMSC is a non-profit organization. Basically, you jam out to music, chat with your friends and fill a bag with rice-ramen-potato-like substance that is turned into nourishment for those around the world who don't have food/money or means for either. Want an alternative to Girl's Night Out? Something for your little league-ers to build community? Want to help people in Haiti (it's FMSC's #1 food site)? Sign-up online and get your crew going! You'll feel amazing and know you've helped someone across the world you've never met. read more

Adam H. and I volunteered here last night with Yelp Helps, and it was overall a great experience! Adam had been to Feed My Starving Children before, but I had not. The whole process was well organized and the FMSC team was very enthusiastic and passionate about their work. We spent about 1.5 hours total at FMSC, which included the introduction, packing of meals, and closing remarks. I only wish we could have packed longer, as the actual packing time was less than an hour. In that time, we did pack 17 boxes, which feeds 10 children for a full year! Of note, they also have a cute marketplace with artisan goods for purchase. FMSC was a fun way to volunteer and chat with some Yelpers, all while supporting a good cause! read more

What a wonderful fun time to spend time with family but also help others. We are so fortunate to have food and others are starving so why not help others. The staff are so friendly and nice and they bring the help and prayers read more

The people who help run Feed My starving children and what the group accomplish are just amazing. The whole process is really unique. You can get together a group of friends or co-workers and head down there to help pack up food. It usually turns into a competition to see who can pack the most in the time you are given, but it makes it fun. It's great to see such a neat organization making an impact on the community! If you are looking for something different to do or a way to help out, check out their website for dates and times. read more

The intro and wrap up are a bit long compared to how much time is actually spent volunteering, I wish it had been a bit quicker so I could have made more meals. The location is also not the best, we went here for a work event and it was quite a drive. The only food that is anywhere near here is Jimmy Johns about a mile away, make sure to plan ahead if you forget to eat before you leave. Overall it was a good experience and I would recommend it; it's just not my favorite volunteer activity. read more

i am feeling an urge to get more involved in the Feed My Starving Children efforts....more in visits to the Eagen office, more in donations and more involved in the Feb 4 million meal food packing event which i have been somewhat involved in over the last 3 years. More Action--Less talk or thinking about charity,,,may become a stimulus for myself and others as well---Looking Forward towards more visits to the Eagen offices...:-)) Sincerely, Glenn D Kiecker read more

This is the very best of the charitable organizations that I have ever worked with. You watch a quick video. Then you roll up your sleeves and pack food for families that are starving all around the world. It fits well with the values of all religions and doesn't preach any religion of any kind. It is just a great way to share a little time to make a big difference. You can also donate money if you want but they don't go around with their hand out. There is just a donation box by the door if you feel like it (classy). My favorite part is at the end they tell you how many people you fed. It feels so good to put a quantifiable total to the volunteering you did. Such a great organization! read more

This is one of the best places to spend time volunteering. The staff is excellent, they are passionate about their cause, and it's a clean and professional environment. The non profit is inclusive and and kind to all humans, and they welcome everyone with open arms. read more

This place was really awesome we had a ton of fun in our group and with the other groups that were there. We started at noon and were all done by 2pm. My group managed to get 11 boxes packed up and out the door!! read more

Best place to volunteer as a group. I was amazed and humbled. This is a top-notch organization. After volunteering here, I left inspired and wanted to change the world. Highly recommend FMSC if you're looking to put your heart and conscience into action. read more