Dear FMSC Friends, The SUN is shining where I am-I hope you too are experiencing this long a waited for occurrence!  We had 14 volunteers last Monday at our packing event. A total of 78 boxes totaling 16,848 meals were packed which will feed 46 kids for a year. Bravo!  I have our group signed up through July to volunteer on the second Fridays of the month: February 10 and March 10 from 9:00-10:45 would be the upcoming dates. Please reply to this e-mail if you can join the group. Optional lunch at Portillo's follows the packing session.    FYI: Larry and I will be gone the month of February but I will still get you registered. (you all must be on your best behavior! Ha!). Laura Kline said she can help in our absence so please contact her with questions or cancellation. (Laura: plklein79@yahoo.com) I wanted to share with you an added opportunity to serve for FMSC. It's called Feed The Need. Please read the information below for details. Since I will be gone, Cindy Boult (cindy@cboult.com) has agreed to spearhead this and organize a group to participate. Its on a weekend so bring the whole family. Please e-mail Cindy if you are interested in being a part of this amazing group. It was through a group like this, that Larry and I first became involved with FMSC. I hope you will be able to participate. It's pretty amazing. Greetings All:   Happy New Year 2023!!   Hope all is well with you & your families.   As faithful FTN participants and supporters in prior years, I wanted to reach out to you in regard to this year’s FTN.   The 2023 FTN Event Leadership Team has decided it is time to bring this event back to prior years’ successes. We have set aggressive goals for FTN 2023. The goal this year is to pack 800,000 to 1,000,000 meals to feed the hungry children/people; the stretch goal is to match or exceed previous results(Pre-Covid). 4,000 - 5,000 volunteers are needed, as well as voluntary financial donations, to fund these meals, which are 25 cents each. The funding goal for FTN 2023 is to raise $240,000 to pay for these meals and associated costs that go with that.    As I am sure you can imagine, an event of this size and scope, takes many people working together collaboratively, to make it a success. It requires prayer, trust, and faith as we move forward in full faith in accomplishing these goals of feeding kids, who are in desperate need.    Again for FTN 2023 I am on the FTN 2023 Leadership Team at North Central College, helping to put this entire event together, helping to get a group of volunteers together, to help at Feed the Need.    We will be registering people in the same shift times they request, making every attempt to keep groups packing together.   As an FTN 2023 Leadership Team, we are moving forward in full faith in accomplishing these goals of feeding children, who are in desperate need.   I know that all of you are well aware of the far reaching impact FTN/ FMSC has had on children and people in need.    WE NEED YOUR HELP and support for these goals to become a reality.   IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT FEED THE NEED 2023: MOBILEPACK DATES: Saturday & Sunday, February 18 &19, 2023 LOCATION: North Central College ResRec Center, 440 S Brainard St, Naperville, IL 60540 PACKING SESSIONS: * SATURDAY: 3:30-5:30PM; 7:00-9:00PM * SUNDAY: 9:00AM-11:00PM; 12:30-2:30PM; 4:00-6:00 PM. The sooner we know your shift preferences, the better, so we can get you officially registered.   With everyone working together, we can all contribute to helping to reduce this number, with the ultimate goal, of eradicating World Hunger at some point in the future. WE NEED YOUR HELP and support for these goals to become a reality.   After all is said and done - The bottom line here is:   Helping to feed the hungry/starving kids/people. Saving their lives.   It is estimated that 6,200 children in the world die each day, due to starvation/malnutrition. Annually this would equate to 2,263,000 children. This is a sobering statistic. (that's just the ones they know about) Imagine how many adults there might be?   Numerous details to follow as they become available and ongoing up to the date of the FTN 2023 event.   “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25  Feeding God's Starving Children Hungry in Body and Spirit. Turn Hunger into Hope with Your Own Two Hands.   Please advise and confirm    Thanks,   Dennis