By Amanda Collins

The Pack Shack/Feed the Funnel returned to Stuart on April 7, with members from various churches uniting to prepare a total of 25,656 meals in just over an hour.

The Pack Shack provided dry food, hair nets and upbeat music that kept many workers singing and dancing as they worked.

The Mercy Church, along with 12 other churches and organizations, helped make the event a success.  All food was distributed the Patrick County Food Bank, Disaster Relief Ministries and various church food banks across our area, according to Pastor Johnny Brown.

“We wanted to keep this event in our community and make it more community minded, so we decided instead of one church leading the way for the event that it would be run by the ministers in our area,” Brown said. “My heart is to see our community come together in unity for the common good of mankind.”

A gong loudly sounded as goals were met, alerting the nearly 100 participants to each accomplishment.

People of all ages worked in unison to complete assigned tasks: some poured a mixture of rice, beans and other goodies into bags; others were ‘runners, so called because they took open bags to another section. Workers manning that section weighed and sealed each bag and then packed them into boxes.

When cooked, each bag of food will feed a family of four.

The Pack Shack began in 2013, with the mission to supply provisions and opportunities to those in need.

The event is expected to continue in 2019 under the leadership of the Patrick County Ministerial Association.

The group also is working on the 3rd annual “Back to School” event, scheduled to be held August 4th at Rotary Field. For more information or to help with the event, email Brown at johnnylbrown@yahoo.com.