Spending a couple hours scooping rice and other ingredients into plastic bags may not seem like a way to change the world for the better. And it may not sound like much fun, either.

But when all that scooping and filling of bags is part of a worldwide effort to get food to the hungry, it is indeed a way to make our world a little bit better. And as people who have volunteered in previous meal-packing efforts of this sort can tell you, it can also be a blast.

An opportunity to be part of a global effort to feed hungry children is coming soon to Fort Dodge. Feed My Starving Children will have a meal-packing event on Dec. 3 at Community Christian School, 2406 9 1/2 Ave. S.

On that day, about 500 volunteers will be needed to pack meals. That is where the plastic bags and scoops come into play as teams work like an assembly line to pack bulk ingredients into meals ready to be shipped overseas.

The effort will require teamwork. It may inspire competitiveness as teams strive to pack more meals than any of the others. And it may involve some good-natured teasing about who looks better with a hair net on.

The goal is to pack 108,864 meals. That is enough to feed 298 children for one year.

Similar meal-packing events have been conducted in Fort Dodge previously. Feed My Starving Children held meal-packing sessions at Community Christian School for five years in a row before the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined the effort in 2020 and 2021. The upcoming session will be the first one conducted locally since the pandemic.

We encourage people to spend a couple hours on Dec. 3 helping to pack these meals. To sign up to volunteer, visit fmsc.org after Thursday.

Financial donations are being accepted also. To donate, send checks made out to Fort Dodge Mobile Pack to Crossway Evangelical Free Church, 3058 10th Ave. N., Fort Dodge, IA 50501.