Southern Arkansas University’s genuine culture of caring and service was on display with its most recent partnership with Tacos 4 Life and Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). The MobilePack event was organized by SAU’s Volunteer Coordinator, Katie Heese. Heese brought together the entirety of the freshman class, other students, alumni, administration, and staff across various departments at the Mulerider Activity Center to pack thousands of meals for children around the world.
This event was part of freshman orientation, known as Mulerider Round-Up, which took on a new look this year by facilitating the large volunteer effort for every first-year student. Over 730 volunteers were able to experience and participate in the University’s spirit of giving. Students were able to serve alongside university personnel, including President Dr. Trey Berry, and exceeded expectations by packing a total of 116,640 meals. These meals will feed 320 children for an entire year. Volunteering during freshman orientation introduces incoming students to the SAU mission of developing essential qualities for being effective citizens in society while also fostering an environment of service. This was the first of many opportunities the freshman class will have to positively impact global communities.
This successful event was made possible in conjunction with Tacos 4 Life and FMSC. FMSC is a nonprofit organization that works to provide nutritious meals to malnourished children in underserved regions. Tacos 4 Life subscribes to a “Meal 4 Meal” philosophy: for each meal sold, one is donated. Tacos 4 Life has funded 31,236,300 meals to date, per their website. FMSC sends packed meals to over 90 countries and distributes them to children in need through feeding centers, CarePoints, orphanages, schools and refugee camps across the Middle East, Asia, North and Central America, South America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. The donated meals, packed by Muleriders, will be sent across the world and be used to make a life-saving impact in a child’s life.
As was announced this spring, Tacos 4 Life has partnered with Southern Arkansas University to open a campus dining location at SAU that will open in the early fall. With the excitement of the new dining venture, it was indeed fitting that SAU partnered with Tacos 4 Life for this opportunity. SAU takes great pride in our Mulerider volunteer efforts that empowers students to give back to their communities and make a positive impact on a large scale. It is clear that Tacos 4 Life and SAU both have a heart for service, and this event is the perfect way to kick off this partnership.
