Two hours of work equaled enough meals to feed 50 children for more than one year for Sailors from Training Support Center (TSC) Great Lakes and other volunteers at the Libertyville Feed My Starving Children facility, July 29.

More than 25 Sailors from the TSC Petty Officers Association and Chief Petty Officer 365 (CPO365) joined volunteers from the surrounding community to pack more than 18,500 meals.

To make the meals the volunteers combined soy, rice, vitamins and vegetables into plastic bags and then sealed them. The meals are one of three separate meal plans Feed My Starving Children prepares and distributes to 70 countries worldwide.

"It doesn't take a whole lot of time but it has a major impact as far as helping people out that are less fortunate than ourselves," said Fire Controlman 1st Class Richard Kinnison, the community outreach coordinator for the TSC POA and CPO365 as well as a Navy Military Training Instructor (NMTI).

The meals this day were being shipped to Haiti, Peru, Swaziland and the Philippines. Sailors volunteered for this opportunity because, Kinnison said, many have witnessed first-hand the effects of starvation and need while visiting other parts of the world in their time in the Navy.

"Doing my tours, seeing how poor some of these kids were, it definitely makes you take everything you have an appreciate it," said Navy Counselor 1st Class (SW/AW) Laniya Allen, TSC career counselor. "We waste two hours watching TV, playing video games. To be able to give back my time to be able to help someone eat, I think that's awesome."

The influx of volunteers, Navy or otherwise, is a welcome site for Facility Supervisor John Schmelzel. But, he said, the volunteers from the Navy make the packing process more efficient.

"They're kind of the perfect volunteers for us because they're always so willing to help out," he said. "Everybody appreciates seeing them giving back in yet another way to the community, to the worldwide community. It serves as an inspiration for all the volunteers that are here."

Sailors from TSC have been volunteering with Feed My Starving Children almost since this site opened in late 2012. There are 27 packing sessions per week that are staffed by volunteers and the three-person full-time Feed My Starving Children staff. Volunteers can be anyone from the age of five years and up. They can be either individuals, families or small or large groups.

"This is what it's all about. If you want to make this society better, make people better, make the Navy better you've got to set the example. We as leaders got to step up and set the example for the junior Sailors to follow," Kinnison said.

For more news from Training Support Center, Great Lakes, visit www.navy.mil/.