MOOREFIELD – Since opening its Moorefield location in 2013, Reapers of Hope has packaged 10,000 barrels of dried food to send overseas.
“It’s a feeling of fulfillment, and we feel blessed that the volunteers have persevered these nine years to achieve this,” stated general manager Don Bearinger in an email.
Reapers of Hope, an arm of Christian Aid Ministries (CAM), takes vegetables donated by producers that volunteers then clean, cut, dry and store in barrels, before assembling them into soup mixes.
The mixes are packaged and sent all over the world – Romania, Haiti and Ukraine were just some of the locations Bearinger referenced – to organizations working to feed the hungry.
As of July 7, over the past nine years, 395,718 three-pound bags and 1,013,361 one-pound bags of soup mix have been filled and shipped, totalling 73,012,713 meals served, detailed a sign in the Reapers of Hope lobby highlighting the group’s achievements.
The milestone is indicative of the hard work of volunteers and staff, officials say.
Every morning they work to prepare the produce, which is then put into the dryer for the day. The vegetables have to be soaked in water for 10 hours to rehydrate, and then can be cooked for consumption.
Volunteer Mary Martin showing pillows being made for shipment overseas. Photo by Olivia Rumbell
After preparing the vegetables, “we shut down for two to three weeks and package. Usually we package anywhere from 50,000 [pounds] to… 90,000 pounds,” Bearinger said, adding one pound of packaged food equals approximately 33 servings.
There are roughly 40 to 50 volunteers working at any one time, including several who have been involved regularly for much of the facility’s nine-year history.
“A place like this is two-fold,” Bearinger explained.
“Not only are we helping to feed the hungry, but also some older people come in and it’s like a Tim Hortons,” with volunteers stopping for a 9:30am coffee break during their shift, he said of the social aspect of the job.
General administrator Ron Jantzi spoke of the importance of the efforts, noting, “we can take product that would normally go to waste here and can process it in a way that it maintains its quality.”
Delphine Horst is a staff member who has been with CAM since 1989. She worked with the Wallenstein branch before the Moorefield location was opened.
“Well I guess I enjoyed it,” Horst said simply when asked why she’s stayed so long.
Volunteer Earl Diefenbacher. Photo by Olivia Rumbell
She added she particularly enjoys the ministry aspect of the work, saying “it’s rewarding when you hear someone come to the door, and they said they got a Bible years ago.”
The 10,000 barrels of packaged food is just one signifier of the hard work that’s been done at the Moorefield location over nine years.
The branch has also opened a clothing warehouse in the same location as its Moorefield drying facility. The clothing branch has been a long-term part of CAM, in addition to the food packaging efforts.
Previously the branches have been at a separate location, but they moved to the same warehouse last August.
The clothing is distributed internationally, with volunteers collecting, cleaning, quality checking and, if necessary, mending received items before they are compressed and packaged.
As of July 20 CAM volunteers were preparing clothing for a refugee camp in Jordan, explained Kent Martin, manager of the clothing department.
Volunteers will make items, including pillow covers, to be sent as well.
