HAZLETON, Pa. — In an assembly-line fashion, students from Immanuel Christian School in Hazleton scooped up, packaged, and boxed 10,000 nonperishable meals for children in Haiti who suffer from hunger.
Sophomore Jaycol Tejeda is just one of the 100 students helping at the Hayden Center for the Arts in downtown Hazleton.
"We here are privileged, but I know there's other kids in Haiti, Africa places like in poverty, that don't have food and they need some, and I'm actually glad to do this," Tejeda said.
It's a part of an event called Feed the Need. Each student raised money to cover the cost of the meals, the packaging, and the shipping.
The event was supposed to happen last year, but it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We thought it was great for our students who receive so much from the generosity of people in the Hazleton area that's allowing them to have a good quality education to also be able to give back to help other students and children somewhere else," said Susan Selby, Immanuel Christian School.
One box filled with meal packets feeds a student in Haiti for one year. The group's goal is to fill 40 of these boxes.
"Man, I feel great for working for something, you know, bigger, and helping other people that are starving in other countries. It feels awesome because they deserve what we have," said sophomore Lawrence McClendon.
Rice, dried vegetables, protein, and vitamins were in each meal Packet. The meals are expected to ship out to Haiti early next week.