Charity Art Auction Planned to Benefit 'Feed My Starving Children'

A charity art auction will be held in Lemont next month to benefit a massive, two-day philanthropic project for starving children.

For the second year in a row, Feed My Starving Children—a Christian organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger throughout the world—will bring a MobilePack event to Lemont in hopes of making 218,000 meals.

The event will run Oct. 12-13 at , 12725 Bell Road.

To raise money for the MobilePack, Lemont resident Peggy Magdziarz has organized a charity art auction for Thursday, Aug. 16 at the Lemont Township Community Center, 16300 Alba St.

The auction will run from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., featuring a wide collection of fine art from talented regional artists. The event will also include a reception with hors d'oeuvres, desserts, beverages and music.

The cost is $25 per person. All proceeds will benefit the Feed My Starving Children MobilePack.

Those interested in attending should RSVP by Aug. 13 to Christine Magdziarz at 815-545-0545 or chrismark52@yahoo.com.

Last year,  at the  building on Warner Avenue. The money was used to purchase ingredients for 207,000 meals that were packaged by 1,000 community volunteers on-site.

“As more groups got involved, people realized that it is an opportunity to help total strangers and bring the community together with a common goal that is totally unselfish,” Magdziarz said.

This year, the group hopes to package at least 218,000 meals to feed 600 children for a year. To do so, they must first raise the $48,000 required to purchase the ingredients, which cost 22 cents per pack.

“Without the funds to pay for ingredients, we can’t have the event,” Magdziarz said. “We have no problems getting volunteers—it’s fundraising that’s the biggest challenge.”

Through his experiences taking groups to past FMSC events, Nazarene Youth Pastor Tim Britton has seen the impact of this kind of hands-on service among those who participate.

“It’s an exciting way to serve, and you feel like you’re getting a lot done in the short time you’re there,” he said. “When they tell you at the end how many people you fed, it’s really gratifying.”

Britton also believes the event has an educational component that encourages volunteers to serve in other ways long after the meals they’ve prepared have been shipped.

“When you live in a place like Lemont that has more wealth than need, something like this gives you a way to see the world through a different set of eyes,” he said.

Those who get involved in the event will find a few changes this year in addition to the new location. An online fundraising tool has been created to track progress toward the financial goal of the event. It also allows individuals and groups to form teams to assist in fundraising in whatever way they choose.

In addition, Magdziarz plans to sell T-shirts to raise awareness of the event and the plight of hunger throughout the world.

“There are 18,000 children dying every day from starvation,” Magdziarz said. “We can’t solve this problem as just one town, but we can do something.”

Community groups and individuals who would like to get involved can contact Peggy Magdziarz at magdziarz@comcast.net. Donations can be submitted online at www.fundraising.fmsc.org/lemontmobilepackil, or mailed to Magdziarz at 1428 Roscommon Way in Lemont (60439). Checks should be payable to Feed My Starving Children.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

There are plenty of ways to keep up on  news:

• Sign up for our daily email newsletter

• Like us on Facebook for a slightly different take.