FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN WEBSITE

COON RAPIDS, Minn. -- The Augsburg College men's and women's track and field teams took time out from their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships preparations this week to participate in a community service project with the non-profit Feed My Starving Children organization.

Twenty-three Augsubrg student-athletes and coaches spent Monday afternoon at the Feed My Starving Children site in Coon Rapids. The Augsburg group packed a total of 12,744 meals into 59 boxes during the morning. Augsburg head coach Dennis Barker said that the team was able to take away a great deal from their experience on Monday.

"The team was really enthusiastic about doing this project. They know that they're fortunate to be at Augsburg getting a good education and being on the track & field team, and that there are others that don't have the same opportunity," Barker said. "The MIAC track & field championships this weekend are very important to them but more importantly, they haven't lost sight of being good citizens. We have some student-athletes on the team that are originally from some of the countries that Feed My Starving Children works in, so it was especially meaningful for them."

According to the Feed My Starving Children website: "Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God's starving children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals formulated specially for starving children, and we ship the meals to nearly 70 countries around the world." Feed My Starving Children has three locations in the Twin Cities, two locations in Illinois and another in Arizona. Former Augsburg Board of Regents member (1994-2006) Jim Haglund is on the FMSC Advisory Board.

The MIAC outdoor track and field championships are scheduled for this weekend in St. Peter, Minn.