This post was written by one of our SWH Leadership Team members, Ashley, 14, who is excited to be returning to Nicaragua with our team this weekend!

Much of the food that is packed by Servants with a Heart goes to Nicaragua, but most do not know where Nicaragua even is, much less what is going on there. We ask students in schools, “Does anyone know where Nicaragua is?” and the first answer often is “Africa.” Nicaragua is actually in Central America, and it's the second poorest country in our hemisphere.

When people say “poverty” I used to think of hunger, but it is so much more. It’s only having enough food for one person in a family of five, it’s living underneath a cardboard box during the rainy season, and it’s digging through trash at the dump looking for something edible. When I went to Nicaragua I saw all of this, and it’s hard to live my normal life knowing what I saw.

Servants with a Heart is here to help, with a mission to deliver food to those who need it most. I try to share the love of God while working at packing events and distributing food in Nicaragua. People anywhere should never have to live starving for food or rummaging around a dump for something to eat. I met some people who had never taken a shower or eaten a decent meal, ever.

Servants with a Heart is driven to make this reality ancient history; we want to feed hungry children. The children in Nicaragua are the same as the children in the United States: they love playing sports and hanging out with their friends. As much as people may not want to hear it, people and kids here in the states are often (not always!) spoiled. They come home from a free public education in their cars or on a bus, maybe going home to play Fortnite or watch television. Kids these days, me included, should go home and think about how lucky we are. Go home and enjoy life, because we are so lucky! If you want to make a difference come and join Servants with a Heart at one of our upcoming packing events. Check out our website or email info@servantswithaheart.org. We hope to see you soon!

Another exciting week last week as two more 40 foot containers of meals were loaded and sent to port, bound for Samaritan’s International in Nicaragua. As I was loading, it was awe-inspiring to see and realize the amount of love and hope that went into each and every bag, box and pallet. For most of us, a couple hours on a school day or weekend is a small investment of time. But each of those 2-hour shifts, coupled with other 2 hour shifts, creates a meaningful result that provides life-saving aid to a child or family that struggles so mightily to find even a morsel of food. In our busy world of school, work, sports, vacations, etc., a two hour blip in time can mean a literal lifetime for those who benefit from your generosity. So on behalf of our meal recipients, thank you!

If you have questions or are interested in finding out more about ways to be involved, please reach out to us at info@servantswithaheart.org

Brandon Faulkner, Program Director

Two sides of the story...
We have been volunteering with Servants With a Heart for over five years now as a family. Packing meals with my family and friends is a fantastic way to serve and I think it brings my family closer together. As Christians, it gives us a chance to act out our faith. We help run events as a family but also get involved using our talents to assist in running the organization. It has really been a blessing for all of us. Delivering the food in Nicaragua provides a different perspective of the process.

Last month, I joined three other men for SWH’s first visit since unrest plagued the country one year ago. We wanted to participate in the delivery of food as well as determine if Nicaragua was calm enough to start taking groups down again.

The delivery process was different in each village we visited. Some of them have feeding centers where the food is distributed regularly, even daily. Other locations receive food as needed, rather than by strict schedule. The people are very friendly and grateful for the food. More than half of the people in Nicaragua who live in rural areas live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25/day, as we teach in our education curriculum), and the economy was decimated even more by the recent civil and political unrest. Our food is needed and appreciated

Our first village visit included a worship service and there was a lot of joyful singing. As a Christian, what struck me the most was the praying. This is not like a dinner-time prayer or routine occurrence at the end of a service. This prayer is a petition to God for needs. Real needs. The prayers I experienced during this trip meant the most to me and made me feel completely inadequate.

After the worship service the children got in a line for the food. I thought about how we pack the food on what we call “lines.” Two very different lines, yet so intertwined. And both have a great deal of significance to me and my family, and to all of us at SWH.

Tyler Reynolds

The Perry Brown family is a big part of what we do here at Servants With a Heart. They own Furniture Factory Outlet World in Waxhaw, NC and provide for us the SWH truck, forklifts, warehouse space, and necessary help to operate our nonprofit. Our special guest blog writer is one of Perry’s sons, Dedrick Brown, who manages the furniture store as well as our involvement with Samaritan’s International, his family’s nonprofit.

We believe our store is blessed because my Dad has always tried to bless other people with the profits we make. In 2005 a friend of my Dad took him to Nicaragua. He immediately saw the great need there, and decided to try to do something about it. He was able to start a nonprofit ministry called Samaritan's International. After several trips to Nicaragua, he bought a piece of property and built a compound outside Managua. After living there for many years, my Dad had to move home  because of medical reasons and the operation is led now by my brother, Patrick Brown. This compound houses our school, church, dining room, staff housing, and farm projects, as well as rooms for visitors to stay in. When SWH visits Nicaragua, it is where we stay.

I met Jeff and Suzanne Yoh when they attended a packing event led by another ministry. They immediately decided they wanted to start their own ministry to feed children. After meeting with them, we formed a great relationship between our ministry, our store and their ministry. Through this great partnership with Servants With a Heart, we have been able to pack millions of meals to help the people of Nicaragua and many other countries. We continue to work very hard at this, and the Lord blesses us every day. I am honored to be a part of these great ministries.

Dedrick Brown

Below are some photos of the compound in Nicaragua, as well as Dedrick and other SWH volunteers distributing food with Patrick in nicaragua last month

Spring has sprung and the bees aren’t the only thing that are buzzing. Our Waxhaw distribution warehouse has been buzzing with lots of activity over the last week. We loaded over 125,000 pounds of much-needed food aid for our partner in Nicaragua, Samaritan’s International. Members of our team just returned from Nicaragua and God’s timing is perfect as the warehouse has about 30 days worth of food for our recipients—which is about the time it takes to get to the facility for distribution, assuming no hiccups!

Special heartfelt thanks from Servants With a Heart to our volunteers, US partners, and donors for your continued generosity with your time and financial support. If your school, church or company is looking for a great turnkey project that provides life-saving support for our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua and here in the US, please contact us at info@servantswithaheart.org for more information.

Brandon Faulkner, Program Director

I remember driving all the way from Durham to Charlotte on a cold Saturday morning several years ago with my family to volunteer for some kind of food packing event. We didn’t know what to expect. None of us had any experience with this type of ministry before, but we were prepared to serve. We had also heard from Jeff and Suzanne Yoh that this particular event was kind of a big deal as there was a milestone of sorts that was going to be surpassed that day. Upon arrival, we could sense that there was a buzz in the air.

Servants with a Heart packed their One Millionth meal that day.

One. Million. Meals.

We stopped in the middle of the event to celebrate and I remember Jeff and Suzanne were so excited and proud of that achievement and rightfully so. One Million was written on the special box of food.

The media took notice and we watched them on the national news!

Fast forward. Waaaaay forward to February 2019 and more than 15 Million meals later, not only is the ministry thriving, it has grown in size and scope. So much so that it has spread well outside of the Charlotte area, with food packing events here in the part of NC that I call home. I was so excited to be asked to lead the annual event on the Duke campus with the Duke Center for Christianity and Scholarship. I enjoy working with college kids. So much energy.

As a group, we came together in spite of the cold rain. College students have significant competing priorities these days, but about 120 of them came together that day, some from as far as Raleigh. Several groups of philanthropic Duke students showed up. A track team from NC State. A few grizzled adult food packing veterans. A volunteer fork lift driver. Representatives of Duke Athletics and Facilities.

Remarkably, in spite of the rain, there was a lot taking place on the Duke campus that day. Baseball games, Lacrosse game. Tearing down Krzyzewskiville in the mud. A huge event celebrating Women and Girls in Sports.

What I enjoy the most about these events is the ability to make such a huge impact. During our event, we packed 50,000 meals. And we did it in just a few hours. Everyone stepped up. What we hadn’t experienced, we figured out on the fly. Everyone there was willing to do whatever was asked of them. And always with a smile and a servant’s heart. There’s a sense of purpose and accomplishment as these events wind down that is like no other. Everyone’s tired – but a good tired. 100s of people will have access to food when they may otherwise go without. So as the last pallet was loaded on to the truck headed back to Charlotte, as the cold, soaked shivering forklift driver headed home and I walked the empty gym, I remembered the smiles and laughter of the volunteers who came together and made a difference that day.

Jeffrey Husen, Newly Minted SWH Eastern NC Event Manager!

Packing at Duke during a sunnier year…

Teaching at St. James Elementary in Denver, NC.

Did you know your school’s first packing event could be done for free? We love to pack in greater Charlotte-area schools and are happy to go into any local public school and provide an educational program and pack 50,000 meals. For subsequent events, schools and/or students raise 15 cents per meal to pack food with us. We have many schools that have already packed with us for years!

Our teaching includes information about hunger, nutrition (both the nutrition of students and the nutrition of our food, and why needs are sometimes different), poverty, and Nicaragua (where we ship 90% of our food). We also talk a bit about Servants With a Heart, explaining that we are a completely volunteer-run nonprofit with no overhead; all funds we receive go directly to packing food.

We try to make things fun and relatable for students of all ages and seek to enhance the food-packing experience, making it more meaningful because the students learn that what they will do will make a big difference in another child’s life. Packing meals can be very impactful and we hope that by doing tangible volunteer work, students are instilled with a sense of the importance of having a servant’s heart. We are truly blessed and it is wonderful to share that blessing with others!

Recently we packed with St. James Elementary in Denver, North Carolina. One student said the experience “was way more fun that I thought it was going to be!” and Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Heffner shared that three of her students proclaimed at the end of their packing hour that “this was the best day of their lives!” We hope that many schools will follow the lead of St. James and choose to pack with us.

If you have a school in mind that might like to work with Servants With a Heart, please contact us at info@servantswithaheart.org

Servants With a Heart has surpassed a longstanding goal of distributing one million meals within the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area. We are so grateful for the more than 100,000 volunteers who have contributed to this wonderful milestone, as well as for the local organizations that receive and distribute our food.

We are happy to work with a number of local groups, including Common Cupboard. They have been a monthly recipient of our meals for many years, receiving 20-30 boxes per month.  “We try to provide a wide range of food through our three Common Cupboard food pantries. The food this amazing grassroots organization provides has helped us immeasurable to further our service to hungry families in our community,” says Keith Adams, Executive Director Common Heart in Indian Trail, NC. 

For most of the years since we started packing food in 2011, we have strived to keep ten percent of our food in our local area. Passing the one million local meal mark is a very exciting event for all of us!

Hello, my name is Ashley. I am a fourteen year old eighth grade student, and my family and I have been working with Servants with a Heart for six years. That means I started working with this organization when I was eight years old! Quickly my family gained interest in this operation. Servants with a Heart is a great opportunity to serve, no matter how old you are. I love working with Servants with a Heart, and it's not just because of the service hours—it's because I get to work to be the hands and feet of Christ with the people I love, doing the job I love.

I know that it's hard to find serving opportunities for your children. As a kid I always wanted to do Operation Christmas Child or the Rescue Mission; both amazing operations, but I was not of age. Servants with a Heart made me feel important and needed, even as a child. As a younger child I felt and still feel loved by all who work with this organization and I love that. When children come to our packing events we help them grow with the Lord and help them serve the Lord. We can give them jobs suitable to their age, but also jobs that adults could easily do. I know from experience that this makes me feel more mature and needed.

My family is part of the leadership team for Servants with a Heart. We run events, we clean dishes, we do paperwork, and so much more, but as a fourteen year old girl that means a lot to me. Servants with a Heart isn't just my happy place—it's also my family. I invite you to come to our next packing event and help us serve the Lord!

Thank you to Mark Szymanski for this blog about his experience at McKee Road Elementary!

The alarm sounded at 5am and I jumped out of bed, looking forward to the day ahead. I was part of a team preparing for a packing event at McKee Road Elementary School. Upon arrival I was met by others and like bees working a hive, we unloaded the trailer truck and staged the gym with sacks of soy and rice, and plenty of boxes.

Our goal was to pack 50,000 meals. If accomplished, Servants With a Heart would pack its 16,000,000th meal, but more than that, children and families in Nicaragua and here in Charlotte would have foundational nutritious meals to help stave off serious health issues due to malnutrition.

With everything in place, the 5th grade class entered the gym and the packing commenced. Eight tables were actively engaged and the kids were loving it. One told me, "I'm glad to help because I can have anything I want to eat but other kids hardly have anything."

As the different grades came and went the excitement increased. From kindergarten to 5th grade they all seemed to work with a purpose to reach the goal…and then it happened! The box that contained the 16,000,000th meal was sealed. We did it!

The kids cheered and they knew they played a valuable part in helping children in other nations just have a meal. It took a team along with a great deal of heart and hard work. If the kids walked away with just a portion of what I felt, I know it will impact their lives. Generous living is key to a fulfilled life and they took a great first step.

Thank you to everyone at McKee Road Elementary School. You are true heroes in my book!

Mark Szymanski, UWM US Regional Leader