91短视频 Y-Serve, a student-run organization focused on volunteer service in the community, hosted the event on Friday and Saturday in partnership with the Harrisonburg Tacos 4 Life restaurant and the Feed My Starving Children nonprofit. For every meal sold at Tacos 4 Life locations, the company donates a portion of the proceeds to FMSC to help purchase Manna Packs. These nutrient-rich bagged meals, specially formulated for children, are then distributed by the nonprofit to schools, orphanages, medical clinics and feeding programs in about 100 countries. 

In its most recent fiscal year, the organization provided 375 million meals to mission partners worldwide, according to Brian Yeich, regional development adviser for FMSC. He said that the total meals packed at the 91短视频 event exceeded the organization鈥檚 goal of 101,088 meals. 

鈥淲e are so grateful that God brought together FMSC, Tacos 4 Life, and the greater 91短视频 community to feed God鈥檚 starving children, hungry in body and spirit,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o not only meet but actually exceed the meal-packing goal by over 12,000 meals is a testament to the people of the Harrisonburg community and the generosity of Tacos 4 Life, which sponsored these meals.鈥�

On Friday and Saturday, Yoder Arena transformed into a meal-packing plant. Teams of volunteers scooped vitamin powder, dried vegetables, dehydrated soy and rice into bags, which were then weighed for consistency, sealed, and placed into boxes. The boxes were loaded onto a truck bound for the warehouse, where they will be distributed to children in need. 

As she finished a volunteer shift packing meals on Friday afternoon, 91短视频 junior Sara Kennel, a member of the Y-Serve leadership team, said she had a wonderful experience working with a group of 91短视频 students, staff and field hockey players, as well as students from Rocktown High School. She said she appreciated how FMSC partners with local organizations on the ground.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not just handing out meals,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e specifically committed to children for a designated length of time and, within that time, working to find other solutions to feed and provide for them more sustainably.鈥�

The event at 91短视频 has sparked a trend in the Harrisonburg community. Jeremy Hunter, operating partner of the Tacos 4 Life Harrisonburg location, said that James Madison University has agreed to host a MobilePack event at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Sunday, April 27. You can sign up for that event .

These meal-packing events are part of a larger effort by the Arkansas-based Tacos 4 Life restaurant chain to donate and pack 10 million meals by June 2025 to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Watch of the 91短视频 MobilePack event in its Tell Me Something Good segment with Taylor Rizzari.

Thank you to all the volunteers who participated, including those from Park View Federal Credit Union, Merck, and Carmax.

“This project was a bear to organize with so many logistics and details, and the results were truly beautiful,” said Brian Martin-Burkholder, university chaplain for 91短视频. “Many volunteers reported how much fun it was to pack meals together for a few hours. We’re grateful for the level of participation this project received.”

The Y-Serve club, 91短视频鈥檚 longest-running student organization, plans opportunities over fall and spring breaks for students to volunteer in locations across the East Coast and the South. Over spring break this year, six 91短视频 students traveled to Comer, Georgia, to work with , an intentional Christian community that offers hospitality to refugees and other immigrants. The staff of Jubilee Partners live alongside three to five families as they help them get settled in the United States. 

The community at Jubilee grows fruits and vegetables as a way to provide healthful food, care for the land, and work together outdoors. The six students who traveled there got to participate in this meaningful work. They helped mulch blueberry bushes, plant chestnut trees, dig a new path, and cut out invasive shrubs in the woods. 

Besides their volunteer work, the students explored the 260-acre property, with its fields, forest, river, and even a small waterfall. In the evenings, they played card games with some of the partners and volunteers who live at Jubilee.

Micah Mast, an 91短视频 junior who served as the student leader of the group, chose to go on this trip because his family volunteered at Jubilee Partners for four months when he was only four years old. 鈥淚 wanted to go back and help out,鈥� Mast said. On the other hand, Ella Richer, a student chaplain in her first year of college, had never been to Georgia but wanted to visit an intentional community. 

Shawna Hurst, a first-year student who helped plan the recent Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference at 91短视频, saw the trip as a way to meet others who focus on peace and justice. Hurst finds peace work 鈥渋nspiring, fulfilling, and much needed.鈥� The trip helped her learn more about what happens to refugees who end up in U.S. detention centers.

Erin Loker, a first-year student and Y-Serve leadership team member, said some of her highlights were getting to know the other students who went on the trip and hearing the stories of the people at Jubilee. Every weekday, the community gathers to eat lunch and share noontime devotions, which provided a good opportunity for the students to meet the people living there. Richer reported many interesting conversations with the residents about living in community, choosing to live simply, welcoming refugees, and giving generously.

A highlight for Mast was giving a presentation on how 91短视频 students are pursuing peace and justice. The Jubilee community appreciated learning how students combine their desire for a better world with their faith through events like the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference and other work 91短视频 Peace Fellowship has been doing.

For Loker, the trip taught her about hard work and simple living. Even though she had never planted trees before, the volunteer work was 鈥渁 cool experience.鈥�

 鈥淧eople there shared a lot and lived minimalistic lives,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t helped me reflect on how much I have that I don鈥檛 really need and what鈥檚 important to me.鈥�

Hundreds of volunteers from the Harrisonburg community and beyond will help out at a MobilePack event at 91短视频 next month, packing more than 100,000 meals to feed malnourished children around the world.

The 91短视频 Y-Serve student club is hosting the two-day event (held March 21-22) in partnership with the Harrisonburg  restaurant and the  nonprofit. 91短视频 students, faculty and staff, as well as volunteers from local church congregations, retirement communities, businesses and civic organizations will join together for the major meal-packing project at the 91短视频 University Commons.

Register online for a two-hour shift at: 

Brian Martin Burkholder, university chaplain for 91短视频, said he noticed an  in the local newspaper about the Tacos 4 Life restaurant鈥檚 opening and felt that its mission of feeding malnourished children aligned with Y-Serve鈥檚 goal of serving others as the hands and feet of Jesus.

鈥淎s a university steeped in the Anabaptist faith tradition, 91短视频 has emphasized companioning marginalized people and offering whatever resources we have to meet human need,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is another way we can practice our core values of peace and justice and active faith.鈥�

91短视频 senior Halie Mast, president of Y-Serve, helped organize the volunteer event.

“This is a huge project that our service club has taken on this year, and it’s probably the largest project I’ve ever helped plan,” she said. “A lot of time, planning, and prayer have gone into this undertaking, and I hope that Christ will be elevated through this work.”

This event is part of a larger effort by the Arkansas-based Tacos 4 Life restaurant chain to pack and donate 10 million meals by June 2025 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. For every item sold at Tacos 4 Life locations, the company donates a portion to Feed My Starving Children, which is used to purchase Manna Packs. These rice-based nutritious meal bags are given to missions and humanitarian organizations in more than 70 countries.

Jeremy Hunter, operating partner of the Tacos 4 Life Harrisonburg location, said the 100,000 meals donated by his store for the MobilePack event at 91短视频 amounts to a $29,000 contribution to Feed My Starving Children.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited for us to bring the Harrisonburg community together to pack 100,000 meals,鈥� he said, adding that this is the first MobilePack event his location has partnered with. 鈥淵ou all at 91短视频 have beaten JMU to the punch!鈥�

Read more about the event in the Daily News-Record .

Sponsored primarily by TV-3 (WHSV), families have enjoyed this fun-filled event, geared toward children, since 1996.

TV-3 staff make a grand entrance at the 2007 Children First Day, arriving in front of University Commons on a horse-drawn cart. (Courtesy TV-3)

2008 marks the second time 91短视频 has hosted the fun afternoon, which will include demonstrations, crafts, great food, a petting zoo, special shows, and more. Community groups will also be on hand with safety and health information for those attending. (Interested vendors should note the event is free.)

“We outgrew our last location and were looking for a place with good values. A place that makes you feel safe…and that’s 91短视频,” said Tina Wood, WHSV promotion manager of the event.

In 2007, more than 3,000 families spent the day on 91短视频’s campus (see campus map). This year, Wood anticipates more than 5,000 families will be in attendance.

Vendors set up in the gym of University Commons in 2007. (Courtesy TV-3)

Only 50 volunteers facilitated the entire event in 2007. This year, Wood and Lynn Veurink, assistant director of auxiliary services at 91短视频, hope more volunteers join up, providing even more fun for the thousands of children present.

“This event truly brings community together but it takes a massive amount of help in order for it to be a success,” said Veurink. “There are many ways to help.”

Contact Lynn Veurink at (540) 432-4663 or lynn.veurink@emu.edu for more information on the event or to sign up as a volunteer.

When he chose Cambodia for a mission, Doug Neufeld wanted to help clean up the Asian country.

“Cambodia has lots of environmental issues,” said Neufeld.

Neufeld, his wife, Cristina, and their sons, Alex, 5, and Evan, 3, spent the past two years in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, returning to the U.S. in July. What Neufeld and his spouse saw during their stay in Southeast Asia was a nation nursing old wounds while harboring new hope.

Neufeld, an associate professor of biology at 91短视频 and chairman of 91短视频’s biology and chemistry departments, used a long-awaited sabbatical and a leave of absence to serve overseas with his wife.

Talks with officials from , the relief and development arm of Mennonite Church-USA, alerted the Neufelds to the need in Cambodia for addressing problems with pollution, poisons and peace.

Neufeld’s wife, Cristina, and their sons, Alex, 5, and Evan, 3, spent the past two years in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, returning to the U.S. in July.

Wastewater levels in Cambodia loom dangerously high, said Neufeld, and the use of loosely regulated pesticides from neighboring Thailand and Vietnam increases contamination. The latter impurities thrive on impoverished Cambodia’s dependence on foreign trade, particularly in its export of rice, the country’s key crop.

Moreover, the tapping of newly unearthed oil reserves, Neufeld said, has caused deforestation.

“There is a lot of economic pressure on Cambodia to use its natural resources,” said Neufeld, who worked with staff from two universities in Phnom Penh to gauge toxin levels in sprayed fruits and vegetables. “How to use its oil reserves will be the next big issue there.”

Old Demons

Cambodia, said Neufeld, grapples with an even more venomous past.

Suffering inflicted on civilians by the sadistic Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s left deep scars. That horrific era’s physical legacy shows in today’s maimed survivors missing arms or legs, victims of Cambodia’s civil war, or its post-war traps that include forgotten yet functional land mines.

More subtle signs of the nation’s horrors remain in its people’s reserved manner, said Neufeld, especially in their trained aversion to cooperation. Such reluctance, he said, is indicative of Cambodians weaned on fear during the Khmer Rouge era.

This lack of cooperation can be seen in the two academies that use Neufeld’s scientific skill. The Royal University of Phnom Penh and nearby Royal University of Agriculture may both use his expertise but share little else.

“There’s a lack of trust between individuals from the Pol Pot days, which means there’s less cooperation than there should be between the two universities,” said Neufeld. “Khmer Rouge destroyed all of society. They killed intellectuals and took children from their parents.”

The constitutional monarchy that has ruled Cambodia since the mid-1990s, says Neufeld, amounts to barely more than a “nominal democracy,” and little of the state’s income from trade aids the poor.

“Cambodia’s government is not communist,” said Neufeld, “but it’s not fully functional.”

Cristina Neufeld, a part-time accountant in Harrisonburg who worked with pro-peace youth groups while in Cambodia, concedes that today’s Cambodians “still have a lot of difficulties dealing with their sad history,” but adds that she feels hopeful for their future. “They have a lot of energy to move forward.”

Cristina Neufeld, who spent most of her youth in Bolivia as a daughter of missionaries, thinks that taking her children to the Far East also enriched both boys’ lives.

“Our kids were able to learn a lot and experience a lot of things they wouldn’t have been able to experience if we had stayed here,” she said. “I think being over there gave us a better sense of just how connected the world is, how we can all affect each other all over the world.”

Teaching Tools

Marie S. Morris, vice president and undergraduate dean at 91短视频, feels that Neufeld’s ministry will help his teaching.

“Doug not only sets the mission and goal of our school, but the real-world experience he can bring into a classroom will only enhance his teaching,” Morris said.

Neufeld plans to return to Cambodia for a pair of three-week trips within a year with students from 91短视频 and Buffalo State, which will partner on the project.

Morris adds that Neufeld’s work in Asia “brings theory and practice into service. I think Doug is a good role model of how that happens.”

Neufeld’s mission left him upbeat enough to want to go back.

Neufeld plans to return to Cambodia for a pair of three-week trips within a year with students from 91短视频 and Buffalo State, which will partner on the project.

Despite the barriers built by Cambodia’s past, Neufeld feels that the country’s best days lie ahead.

“Cambodians are survivors,” he said.

Contact Tom Mitchell at 540-574-6275 or mitchell@dnronline.com.

91短视频 President Loren E. Swartzendruber announced Friday (Sept. 2) that “We will admit up to 20 displaced students to study at 91短视频 for the cost of room/board for as long as their home campus is closed. If they choose not to return to their home campus after it is reopened, they could apply for regular admission at 91短视频.

“We will give this information to CCCU (Council of Christian Colleges and Universities), CICV (Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia) and any other association that is posting lists of colleges willing to accept displaced students,” Swartzendruber said, adding that “We will put forth special efforts to welcome international students who need to maintain their student status.

“The 91短视频 community will find ways in the weeks and months ahead to connect to Mennonite Disaster Service relief efforts and other responses,” the president said.

Representatives from at least 10 church-related agencies will have displays in the Campus Center Greeting Hall through noon Wednesday and will be available to talk with students and area residents about possible
service openings with their organizations.

Participating agencies will include: Eastern Mennonite Missions, Salunga, Pa.; Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa.; Mennonite Mission Network, Elkhart, Ind.; Christ House, a health care facility for homeless men in Washington, D.C.; Lutheran Voluntary Service; Habitat for Humanity; the Peace Corps and Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions.

Chapel services Monday and Wednesday will complement the service theme.

Kent Miller of Mennonite Mission Network, Elkhart, Ind., will speak 10 a.m. Monday in Lehman Auditorium on taking risks in faith, based on Matthew 14. 91短视频 students who have participated in short- and long-term
mission-service assignments will speak 10 a.m. Wednesday.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with a service representative, call Helen Nafziger in the Career Services office at 540-432-4131.