PORT ANGELES — Marathon day did not turn out like organizer Karen Coles thought it might.
Coles, with a small team of volunteers, put together the first-ever Olympic Peninsula Meal Marathon on Oct. 1.
The event was to be a hands-on, meal-packaging effort for Children of the Nations — or COTN — a Christian nonprofit with holistic care programs in Africa and the Dominican Republic.
In this marathon held at Roosevelt Elementary School, Coles hoped to assemble enough hands to package 100,000 meals for youngsters on the other side of the globe.
That goal is even more ambitious than it sounds: Cities larger than Port Angeles have COTN events in which only 20,000 to 50,000 nonperishable lunches are packed.
But when marathon morning came, a throng descended. Some 550 volunteers poured into Roosevelt’s gym throughout that first Saturday in October, and Coles and her crew had to turn away another 75.
It had to be one of the largest volunteer events in Olympic Peninsula history, Coles said this week.
The marathoners — ranging in age from 5 to 80-plus — packaged 101,304 meals.
And, Coles added, donors from across the community contributed $29,800 to pay for the food and the shipping —an amount in excess of the $25,000 goal COTN had set for Port Angeles.
It costs the organization 25 cents per meal for ingredients and transport on a cargo ship, according to Dave Spoon, COTN’s Northwest coordinator.
So the extra $4,800 will go toward farming programs in Africa; COTN supports communities in Malawi, Sierra Leone and Uganda as they grow toward self-sufficiency.
Coles, meanwhile, is still marveling at what happened Oct. 1.
Outpouring of help
Ten local churches formed teams of meal packagers. The Kiwanis and Port Angeles Garden clubs sent groups of volunteers, as did Port Angeles High School’s Navy Junior ROTC and the Olympic Peninsula YMCA.
Les Schwab Tires donated the use of a forklift to unload a truck full of 50-pound bags of food. Doug Hayman, the principal of Roosevelt Elementary, drove the forklift.
He’s the one who invited the meal-marathon crowd, Coles said, adding that Hayman also made sure his staff and school facilities were ready for the event.
Working at 20 long tables, the volunteers filled food-grade plastic bags with lentils, rice, vitamin-fortified chicken powder and dehydrated vegetables. Those went into cartons, which were shrink-wrapped and delivered to COTN’s regional warehouse in Silverdale the following Monday.
The meals have yet to be shipped, Coles said, adding that they’re in storage while COTN determines which country has the most need; she’s been told it will probably be Malawi or Sierra Leone.
As to whether and when a second Olympic Peninsula Meal Marathon will happen, Coles isn’t quite ready to set a date.
Second marathon
“We hope to do it again. We’re having a meeting Monday night to discuss how it went,” she said.
Spoon, who coordinates meal marathons around Washington state, was impressed by the turnout in Port Angeles. He noted that the 550 workers here are part of a 10,000-volunteer effort across Washington, in which 1 million meals have been packed this year.
“These meals will help Children of the Nations provide holistic care” in schools, Spoon said.
COTN seeks to provide food as a foundation for young people to grow up healthy — and able to help their own communities thrive.
To learn more about the organization, visit www.COTNI.org or phone the Silverdale office at 360-698-7227.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
