To volunteer to pack meals at FMSC, please sign up online.

If you are registered as a Group:

1. The Group Leader can visit "Manage My Reservations."
2. As a Group Leader, you may cancel individual Group Member reservations by clicking "Delete" next to the individual's name.

If you are registered as an Individual, visit "Manage My Reservations."

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. In Volunteer Reservations, go to "Manage My Reservations."
2. Click "Manage" next to your group.
3. Click "Change Group Name or Size."
4. Enter the new number of spots and click "Save."
5. After updating your group size, add the names and email addresses of your new Group Members or invite others to join your group.

If you are a Group Member:

1. Contact your Group Leader to secure more spots for your session. Your Group Leader will then go through the steps listed above.
2. If you are unable to reach your Group Leader, you may create a new group for your session, pending available spots. Register a new group now.

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. In Volunteer Reservations, go to "Manage My Reservations."
2. Click "Manage" next to your group.
3. Click "Change Group Name or Size."
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:

1. If you joined the group yourself, you may cancel your spot by visiting "Manage My Reservations."
2. If someone else registered you for your group, contact your Group Leader.

There is no minimum number of volunteers. Each permanent site has the following maximum number of volunteers per session:

• Aurora, IL: 140 volunteers
• Chanhassen, MN: 110 volunteers
• Coon Rapids, MN: 120 volunteers (140 evenings and Saturdays)
• Eagan, MN: 120 volunteers (140 evenings and Saturdays)
• Libertyville, IL: 140 volunteers
• Mesa, AZ: 140 volunteers
• Schaumburg, IL: 90 volunteers (120 evenings and Saturdays)

FMSC reserves the right to alter volunteer capacity as it sees fit. Our online Volunteer Registration System will always reflect the current availability.

The minimum age for volunteering is 5 years old. For safety reasons, children under the age of 5 are not allowed to participate in packing sessions.

We are only able to sign-off on our specific FMSC Volunteer Service Hours forms. These forms are located at each of our sites & MobilePack locations. Sign-off should happen each time you volunteer.

We are happy to complete an FMSC Volunteer Service Hours form for your church, school or court ordered community service requirements. Please be sure to register online, check your name off on our computer when you arrive to pack and ask a team leader for a Volunteer Service Hours form each time you pack (at the end of the shift). We are unable to sign-off on another organization’s verification form. We are also unable to sign off on hours not registered in our system, so please sign in for each shift you work, including back to back shifts worked the same day.

Unless clearly marked as a Fully Invested Session, donations are not required to pack; however, we humbly request them. Each volunteer packs about $50 worth of food. FMSC receives no government aid. We can only send meals as we have funding. FMSC relies on donations from volunteers like you. Nearly everyone is able to contribute something, but we leave the amount up to you. Many groups and individuals make advance fundraising a fun part of their service project. As you're willing and able, you may donate on the day you volunteer (by cash, check or credit card), or donate online before or after you pack. Please share this information with every member of your group and prayerfully consider the impact you can make.

Please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes prior to your packing session to check-in. Your orientation and packing instructions will take place during your scheduled shift time.

We highly recommend all volunteers wear closed-toed shoes. If you volunteer in the warehouse, closed-toed shoes will be required. Otherwise, please come in clean, comfortable clothes.

Due to FDA compliance for food manufacturing plants, NO jewelry may be worn in the packing room. Please review our Jewelry Policy and share with fellow volunteers.

If you have had a cough, fever, diarrhea, pink eye, or have been vomiting or are contagious within the last 24 hours, we ask that you reschedule your packing time.

Please cancel your reservation to reschedule for a time when you are feeling better.

No. We only hold food-packing sessions during each permanent site's regularly scheduled shift times.

Please note: All volunteers must go through orientation and training at the beginning of each session. Please arrive 10-15 minutes before your scheduled start time and plan to stay until the end of your session.

Yes. We want to offer the full volunteer experience to all volunteers, both returning and new, and we need to ensure that proper packing procedures are followed. Volunteers must attend both the FMSC orientation and the packing orientation each time they visit.

We are honored to serve as the activity for birthday parties of volunteers who are 5 years of age and over! If you celebrate your birthday with us, you will receive a free FMSC t-shirt and an optional "Happy Birthday" serenade by fellow volunteers. Please note that none of our facilities can accommodate treats or gathering spaces. Please celebrate with goodies off-site.

Yes! We reserve one of our most important tasks for sit-down volunteers. Volunteers can sit while labeling bags—this is a vital step to the packing process. This task entails putting our FMSC label on each bag before it is filled with food.

Yes! Each site is accessible and has a job for everyone!

We ask that special needs/transition groups contact the FMSC Site Manager to schedule a volunteer time. Please do not register your group on the online registration system without contacting the Manager first.

FMSC advises volunteers with food allergies to exercise caution when determining whether or not to participate in food packing. We are able to provide a complete list of ingredients in FMSC's food products, but we cannot guarantee the environments of our ingredients' manufacturing. Volunteers with extreme food allergies or allergies to any of the listed ingredients are advised not to pack.

"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 $50 per person or $150 per household. The $50 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.

We receive food aid applications daily. The distribution committee meets and reviews each application, evaluating them in several different categories, including physical condition of the children, percentage of children vs. adults served, other food available, the type of feeding program and the ability to receive and store the food safely. At the end of the discussion, the committee prays for God’s guidance and then rates each application. Food is allocated based on the rating each application receives.

We have sent food to nearly 70 countries in our history, including Haiti, Sudan, Jamaica, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Tanzania, Lesotho, Liberia, Ghana, Guatemala, Malawi, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Cameroon, Niger, Colombia and El Salvador, as well as to Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and many more. Check out a visualization of where we've sent FMSC food.

Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) targets feeding programs to children who are in the most severe circumstances, those suffering from severe malnutrition and threatened with death from starvation. The United States does not have that level of hunger on a widespread basis. In the past we have supplied food to an Indian reservation in South Dakota and to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

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 worldwide Christian and humanitarian relief organizations including Salesian Missions, Reach Now International, Food for the Poor, Samaritans International, Love A Child, Convoy of Hope, Church of Bible Understanding, Children's Cup, Cross International and many others. 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.