DIDSBURY - A group of youngsters from the area is travelling to the B.C. Okanagan to help prepare food for those in need in other countries.
The 26 youth are with the Zion Evangelical Missionary Church in Didsbury and are scheduled to head to Vernon to work with the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners group all this week.
Spencer Smith, youth pastor for the Zion Church, said before the trip that the kids are really looking forward to the trip.
"The mission of the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners is to produce meals to go around to feed the hungry," said Smith. "Their pamphlet says that every three seconds someone dies of hunger. Of those, 75 per cent are children. Obviously, the need for food around the world is really large. We are taking 26 students down to work in their plant."
Smith said the gleaners receive fruit and vegetable donations from orchards in the area. Volunteers help with the cleaning, chopping and preparation of the produce for dehydration, as well as packaging of the final product.
"It gets made into soup mix and is then sent out around the world as food aid," he said.
Smith said they found out about it from a student who went last year and said it was a great opportunity.
"The forgiveness we receive through Jesus, that's the ultimate act of generosity," he said. "So we want to go and be generous. We have such abundance here it's nice to be able to meet some physical needs by sharing."
The group was set to leave July 15 and will be working from Tuesday to Friday and returning to Didsbury on Saturday. The youth range in age from 13 to 18.
Although most are from Didsbury, there are three from Carstairs and one from Crossfield.
"We're excited," he said. "We're all really looking forward to it. I think it'll be a really good time."
