Monday, August 30, 2010

Time to Celebrate! ~ Menu Monday - Food Pak® Challenge

Not only is today our Bloggie Birthday and our 100th post, but it is also our Food Pak® Challenge Anniversary! For those of you who don't know, the Food Pak® is something that the Children's Hunger Fund distributes to struggling families in our cities and around the world. Through the Food Pak® they offer support and love to our neighbors, and hope through relationships with volunteers and our Savior!

When we first heard about CHF and the Food Pak® we weren't really sure we were going to donate anything, but something stirred within me and I had the idea of getting one of these boxes and eating out of it ourselves to see if it really had what it took to feed a family for weeks, like it claimed. I told Taylor my idea, and like I learned in Church this weekend- by vocalizing what I felt, I was in a way, committing to do it. Taylor was on board and she was there to make sure that we stayed on track... I couldn't have done without her. Together we went shopping, we cooked, we blogged, and at the end of week God planted an idea that then grew into what you are seeing today. We could simplify and change our eating habits and provide multiple families with a good, sustainable amount of food at the same cost. How can you argue with that? We can eat and be healthy and be happy and help others. We may not be eating our favorite foods, and it may take longer then driving through, but we do it for the love of our brothers and sisters. Our first Food Pak® experience went so well that we did it again, and at the end of our two weeks we had saved enough money to make 10 Food Paks®! God really blessed us and allowed us to greatly bless others. :)

Since then, we decided that we wouldn't be able to go back to eating normally... well, not right away. We knew we wanted to do something and we wanted to do something big, so we set our sights on 2010 and we set a goal to eat for $10 a week for a whole year. At the end of the month we take the same amount that we spent on groceries and we donate it to food and water organizations. It has been a good year so far, and it's hard to believe that we have come such a long way. But we would like to go back to where it started, and we would really love for you come along with us.

For the next two weeks Taylor and I will be taking the Food Pak® Challenge again, and we want to encourage you to try it for a week, as well. The items in the box are really common items and can be bought for around $25. If you decided to try this, we would also like to encourage you to make the same $25 donation to CHF to help feed other families through the Food Pak®. So please consider it, pray about it, and let us know! We would love to have someone to share stories, recopies, and pictures with; we would even love to offer you a chance to share with us what you learned and experienced here on our blog.

Here is the list that comes with the Food Pak®.


Here are our groceries!

And our first dinner!

Look like fun? Give it a try!

To learn about the Food Pak® Challenge visually, check out the video CHF put together on our "Media" tab!

Let the challenge begin!!!


4 comments:

  1. So enjoyed your post! My hubby and I are with American Missionary Fellowship and are working at opening a food and clothing pantry in a little town of 600. What a great challenge!

    bee blessed
    mary

    ReplyDelete
  2. So want to do this, but with 2 small children and lunches to pack, I dont think this would go over that well.... Im looking forward to watching yall though, and hopefully we can save up some money to donate... :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am breastfeeding so I can't do this challenge exactly but I am going to try and cut our groceries in half and donate the other half. We used to eat out quite often but we changed that to Sunday lunches only and only when we are fellowshipping with others. I've been feeling convicted lately to change some more of our food related spending and help meet others basic needs as God has so generously met my family's needs. This story is a great encouragement and I am so happy to have come across it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So wonderful to hear that you are willing to make a change in your life to serve others. We would love to hear how your progress goes, keep in touch! :)

    ReplyDelete