The amazing “Haiti Ladies,” next-level food packers!

They come every Wednesday and Friday to the Libertyville Feed My Starving Children volunteer food-packing sessions.

They show up along with other groups and other volunteers, all ready to help, but these ladies are truly unique. (A few men have joined the group over the years.) They are not just “a cut above,” but a couple of huge slices above all the other groups that volunteer.

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“The Haiti Ladies,” who have been packing meals for years, start out full tilt at their station and don’t quit ’til the hour-and-a-half session concludes. Level ten speed and efficiency from start to finish.

It is like watching poetry in motion, a well-oiled machine, with each part in complete connection with the next. They don’t hurry—but man, do they go quick! Fortified by veteran packers at each of the various jobs, including measuring, weighing, pouring in four different ingredients, sealing the packs, and then boxing them up—this group nearly has it down to a science. Total cohesion, complete with accuracy, teamwork, and speed.

Corporate executives could show a video of them in action to display at a conference on business efficiency and working together.

They are known as the “Haiti Ladies” because each group that volunteers at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) has a different station, and the stations are named after the various countries that the food is sent out to. 

“They assigned us the Haiti station,” says one of the group leaders, Mary Ann McDowell, “because it is closest to the warehouse, so they can take our boxes and replenish the supplies.”

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Good move. A lot of “replenishing” is needed with this packing gang.

While other groups might turn out 20 or 30 boxes a session, this finely tuned veteran group will often crank out more than 50 boxes in one session. Each box has 36 food packs, and each food pack serves six separate meals. So in one session—and remember, writers are always bad at math, so double-check me on this—but at each session, they can turn out 10,800 individual meals—sometimes more!

The group first started out as retirees from United Protestant Church of Grayslake, and they have been going to the FMSC Libertyville location since it opened in 2012.

“One of our own church members was on the initial staff at FMSC,” remembers McDowell, “and they were the ones who encouraged us to try volunteering there.”

Fourteen years later, “The Haiti Ladies” (sometimes now they go by UPC, the initials of their church) are still going strong.

The original group of three included McDowell along with Cindy Bartz and Linda Rambo—who all, at one point, went on a food distribution trip to the Dominican Republic and saw firsthand the hunger need and how valuable the FMSC meals can be to those who have extreme hunger needs.

 From those original three, over the years the group has expanded and now has up to 30 different members who volunteer at different times. Usually, ten are volunteering on a particular day.

“They are amazing,” says site director Stephanie Parker. “They have been coming since we first opened, and they have kind of become our lifeline. If we have a shortage on a certain day, or need some emergency meals packed, “The Haiti Ladies" and all their church volunteers will come in and help us out. We couldn't do it without them!”

Hopefully, there are many more years of proud volunteering ahead for this wonderful group.

The motto of FMSC is “Until all are fed.” The Haiti Ladies and their many church volunteers are certainly doing their part!

For more information on Feed My Starving Children or their volunteer packing sessions, go to this website.