All of our volunteer registration takes place online at fmsc.org.

Please use the following instructions to make a reservation:

Begin by going to our main webpage at fmsc.org. LOGIN with your email address and password or click CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT. Click on the white VOLUNTEER button in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This brings you to the VOLUNTEER screen. Next, select a location to search. You may enter in any of the following: zip code, state or Event Name, the distance you're willing to travel, how many volunteers you have, the time of day you prefer, a specific date or date range and then click SEARCH.

Next, you'll be able to view the available sessions within the parameters of your search. If your search yields multiple locations, click the VIEW AVAILABLE SESSIONS box under the location you'd like to see available times to pack. You may select a date/time, and then be brought to a screen to RESERVE SPOTS. Here you'll enter if this is a new or previous group, group type, group name, and number of spots. You will need to click if you are attending the packing session or just setting up the reservation, and then click on our "I agree" statement, and then CONTINUE. When you have successfully registered, you will receive a confirmation email from us.

Begin by going to our main webpage at fmsc.org. LOGIN with your email address and password. Then hover over the MY ACCOUNT button in the top right corner and click on MANAGE MY RESERVATIONS.

• If you are the group leader, you can cancel the entire group’s reservation by clicking the CANCEL button next to the reservation that you would like to cancel.
• To leave a group, click the name of the group on the reservation that you would like to leave. From the next page you can click the LEAVE GROUP button.
• If you added someone else to the reservation with you (e.g. your child), you can remove them from the reservation by scrolling down on the page to the CONFIRMED VOLUNTEERS section & clicking the trash can icon next to their name.

Yes, if there are still spots available. Please update the number of spots you need on your online registration.

If you are the Group Leader:

1. Begin by going to our main webpage at fmsc.org. LOGIN with your email address and password. Then hover over the MY ACCOUNT button in the top right corner and click on MANAGE MY RESERVATIONS.
2. Click EDIT next to your group.
3. If you know who will be joining:
• Add the names and email addresses of your new Group Members under the CONFIRMED VOLUNTEERS section. The number of spots you have reserved will automatically increase as long as there are additional spots available.
4. If you don't know who will be joining:
• Click EDIT under GROUP DETAILS
• Enter the new number of spots and click SAVE.

If you are a Group Member:

1. Begin by going to our main webpage at fmsc.org. LOGIN with your email address and password. Then hover over the MY ACCOUNT button in the top right corner and click on MANAGE MY RESERVATIONS.
2. Click the name of the group on the reservation that you would like to add to. From the next page you can add names and email addresses of additional Group Members under the CONFIRMED VOLUNTEERS section. The number of spots your group has reserved will automatically increase, as long as there are additional spots available.

Yes, please! We count on you to come even if your group size is fewer than the number of spots you reserved. However, please update the number of people who will be coming on your online registration. By releasing your spots, you are allowing other volunteers to sign up, which in turn helps us keep our food commitments to our partners.

If you are the Group Leader:

1. Begin by going to our main webpage at fmsc.org. LOGIN with your email address and password. Then hover over the MY ACCOUNT button in the top right corner and click on MANAGE MY RESERVATIONS.
2. Click EDIT next to your group.
3. Click EDIT under GROUP DETAILS.
4. Enter the new number of spots and click SAVE.

If you are a Group Member and you cannot attend your packing session, please cancel your reservation so others may fill your spot:

• If you joined the group yourself, you may cancel your spot by going to our main webpage at fmsc.org. LOGIN with your email address and password. Then hover over the MY ACCOUNT button in the top right corner and click on MANAGE MY RESERVATIONS. Click the name of the group on the reservation that you would like to add to. From the next page click the LEAVE GROUP button.
• If someone else registered you for your group, contact your Group Leader.

There is no minimum number of volunteers. The maximum number of volunteers varies by site and session and FMSC reserves the right to alter volunteer capacity as it sees fit. Our online Volunteer Registration System will always reflect the current availability.

"Fully Invested" packing sessions take place on days when our sites are normally closed: Sundays or holidays. These sessions require all volunteers to support us with a donation of $52 per person or $156 per household. The $52 donation will fund 216 meals for children who desperately need our help. These shifts are designed for those who would like to help with their hands and also pay for the food they will be packing.

Everyone who signs up for a Fully Invested session must acknowledge that they understand this is a special session that requires a donation. All of our other packing sessions that are not clearly marked as "Fully Invested" do not require a donation.

Each meal costs less than 25 cents to make.

FMSC devotes more than 90 percent of total donations to feeding kids. Less than 10 percent goes to fundraising, administration and overhead combined.

Most of our support comes from individuals, followed by churches, foundations and corporations.

Yes. We purchase all of the raw ingredients: rice, soy, vegetables and vitamin flavoring. The ingredients are one of FMSC's main expenses.

Yes, we do. Feel free to check out some fundraising ideas.

No. We welcome people of every faith to participate in our life-giving mission.

No. Our food is given to the neediest children, regardless of their faith or whether a Christian message is delivered. All of God’s children deserve to be fed.

All partners first apply for meals online. We evaluate applications for partnership based on the percentage of children being fed, funding availability and customs clearance experience before presenting them to the FMSC Distribution Committee for prayerful approval or denial.

Meals are allocated to existing partners a year at a time, giving partners a stable food supply they can count on. Our first priority is to serve the requests of existing partners. We consider new partners as we have the capacity.

We have sent food to nearly 70 countries in our history. Check out a visualization of where we've sent FMSC food.

Not very often. Our meals were designed for the severe undernutrition that is more common in the developing world. Its taste and texture is not as well received in the U.S. When we get requests from domestic hunger programs, such as following a disaster, we send a sample box. This has not led to any large-scale requests. International hunger is “what we do best.”

No. All of our food is donated to the recipients. We do ask that the partnering (or recipient) organization pay for the shipping charges.

No, we are not associated with any other feeding businesses. We are not the same company as Kids Against Hunger, Feed the Children, Impact Lives or any other feeding group. We are a Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We are independently audited every year and have received an "Exceptional" rating by the Charity Navigator, indicating our organization exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause.

We partner with an exceptional network of missions and humanitarian organizations to distribute FMSC food. See a map of our partners from the past two years.

Halal certification means our three MannaPack™ meal formulas have been examined and declared permitted or lawful for Muslim people to eat. Our meals are verified to contain no pork, meat slaughtered improperly or alcohol and have not come into contact with any substances that could violate Islamic dietary laws.

The seal helps us achieve our mission: getting nutritious meals through to the children who need them most. FMSC distributes food in many countries where Muslim people are the predominant population, including Afghanistan and Somalia. To avoid any potential barriers in shipping, transportation, distribution and acceptance, we applied for and received the halal seal to print on our meal bags and boxes. It is a food security measure, along with many others we take. Throughout our nearly 30 years in operation, more than 99 percent of our meals have reached the children they’re intended to serve. We want to preserve that strong track record.

No. FMSC has not changed our Christian mission: to feed starving children in the name of Jesus. In fact, the seal helps us to serve better in the pattern of Jesus—across cultural barriers. We have changed none of our beliefs and, in fact, we pray in Jesus’ name over every meal we produce. The seal does not mean FMSC agrees with Muslim theology. It simply means the meals comply with Muslim dietary laws, nothing more.

FMSC regards all people equally. We believe and practice Jesus’ teachings to love and serve everyone unconditionally. FMSC is called to a kingdom mission that transcends political or nationalistic alignments: to be the hands and feet of Christ on earth.

The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) carefully examined each ingredient in our three meal formulas, as well as the sources and suppliers of each ingredient. This process focused strictly on food content. There was no Muslim prayer or ceremony involved, nor has FMSC come under the authority of any Muslim cleric or religious law.

Yes. We were guided through the certification process by Dr. Joe Regenstein, professor of food science at Cornell University. Dr. Regenstein is an expert in halal (Muslim) and kosher (Jewish) food certification. A friend of FMSC who has supported our MobilePack meal-packing in Ithaca, New York, Dr. Regenstein recommended FMSC receive this certification to nullify any cultural barriers to our mission around the world.

We do not plan to pursue the kosher seal at this time because there is no identified need. We have not been asked for food aid by organizations working in predominantly Jewish communities or in the nation of Israel. We could readily apply for kosher certification if the need arises.