A Child's Hope Int'l Public Packing, January 4

"This event essentially reminded me of our purpose and made for a great start to the new year. Because there are so many vulnerable children and orphans in poorer areas around the world, being able to make a direct impact on individual kids' lives in one of the poorest countries, Swaziland, was an experience like no other. It was the first time Why Not? expanded their perspective from helping Americans to helping those around the world; however, the joy that overcame me with helping these children alongside three of my friends makes me want to do events like this a lot more. I never envisioned this club having this big of an impact on the community and receiving the response it did, but I think helping suffering individuals outside of our country is another task Why Not? can continue to tackle."

-Aidan Corey

"Being involved with the Hope Factory is something I want to continue. In this event, I had the opportunity to create food packages for unfortunate children in Swaziland, Africa. Due to the lack of nutrition in these underdeveloped countries in Africa, these food packages are filled with protein so that their own bellies can be filled. From the 200 people volunteering, we combined to create more than 109,000 food packages, more food to feed over 200 children for a year. I want to continue volunteering for the Hope Factory I see how much they care for others. I admire how much compassion and enthusiasm for what they do, and it inspires me to feel the same for the cause. "

-Nathan Bill

"In the video presentation that proceeded our participation in the actual event, I found myself tearing up seeing all the starving kids on the screen who still somehow had a smile on their face. These kids in Africa that we were helping have such a disadvantage in life from the start, as they have barely any food to eat in addition to lacking clean water. The number of kids that die from starvation and unclean water was staggering. I previously had no knowledge of how big of a problem this is in our world. It is saddening to see how these kids aren't really living life, they're just struggling to survive. This knowledge made me thankful for what I have in my life, but, more so, it made me extremely motivated to help these kids. In my short three hours of work, I personally did enough to feed a child for an entire year. As a group, we were able to make over 109,000 meals for kids in Swaziland. I look forward to participating in this event again in the future. As the director of the whole operation told us, we can't magically help everyone right now, but we can help that kid, and that kid, and this kid, and so on, until eventually, one day, we might reach the goal of helping them all."

-Evan Vollmer

"I had a great time working with 3 fellow group members and 6 strangers to come together a work for a greater cause. It was an amazing experience working in our own little assembly line to bag high protein meals for underprivileged children who do not have the means to get healthy meals for themselves. Getting to physically make these meals makes me feel like I am having a direct impact on these kids lives. On top of this, it was interesting getting to work with others who take pride in giving up their time to help those in need. We got to work as a team with these people to accomplish a common goal which really show what service is all about. "

-Connor Ammon