AKRON, Pa. Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) four-person canning crew is on the road for an annual meat canning effort which begins in early October. This effort includes thousands of volunteers and produces more than half a million cans of meat for hungry people around the world whose lives have been affected by poverty, war or disaster.
The mobile meat canner will cover thousands of miles as it visits 13 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between now and the end of April. This tradition began in 1946.
Last season yielded 562,329 cans of meat, which MCC shipped to more than a dozen different countries. This protein source can impact whole communities as a single can feeds 10 to 15 people. This year, about 44,390 cans of turkey went to Ukraine where MCC partners provide meat to government orphanages and to other programs that help children without parents.
Long before the canning crew arrives, local communities raise funds to cover the cost of canning, which can run as much as $13,000 U.S. a day. Volunteers donate meat and help the crew by preparing and canning. The four-person crew works in shifts, overseeing canning operations from early morning until night.
This cooperative event gives many people a chance to share. As Tim Friesen, MCC’s canning coordinator, says, “The meat canner is about bringing people in and allowing people to share their compassion for others.”
David Martens, a member of the canning crew reflected on God’s work in his life through this project. “God has a way of getting us to do things,” Martens says. “I was pretty shy and not good at taking care of people but…this has made me more open to what He would want.”
The crew saw evidence of God’s work in Haiti when they visited a school run by a 76- year-old man. The school teaches trades to 300 boys. The donated meat helps provide the one meal a day that each boy receives.
Members of this year’s canning crew are Viktor Schwendich of Huenfeld, Germany; Josh Voth, of Goessel, Kan.; David Martens, of Winkler, Man.; and Eric Thomas of East Petersburg, Pa.
Each year, MCC seeks people to serve on the mobile meat canner. Canning crew members serve two-year terms, spending seven months on the road with the canner and working in Akron, Pa., the other five months of the year. To learn more, visit
mcc.org/canning
.
END
Catheryn Clinton is a writer for MCC.
MCC Photo available:
Canners are (left to right) Josh Voth, Viktor Schwendich, Eric Thomas, and David Martens. (Photo by Tim Hoover)
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