Four members of the Mr. Spring Garage Doors team spent Friday, July 31 packing meals in Coon Rapids, and left wanting to go back.
For Mr. Spring, the day was also a chance to spend time together without talking about garage doors, service calls or the usual things that fill a workday.
Company outings aren't something the team does all that often, which made the experience a little different.
For Jason, Zac and Tyler, it was a return trip to FMSC. Lee and Carter were experiencing it for the first time.
Either way, the reaction afterward was pretty consistent.
Happy. Wholesome. Fulfilled. Satisfied.
“Fun is fun,” Tyler said. “But it was really wholesome to know that we helped a bunch of people.”
It didn't take long before packing meals turned competitive.
Each station could see how many boxes the other groups had completed, and once everyone settled into their roles, the Mr. Spring crew wanted to see how much they could get done.
Jason was especially into it.
That eventually led to the bell.
When the group completed its pallet, Jason got the honor of ringing it, and he made sure everyone in the room heard it.
By the end of the 9 a.m. packing session, the volunteers had packed 17,280 meals, enough to provide 47 children with a daily meal for an entire year.
The meals packed that morning were headed overseas, where they would be distributed through Feed My Starving Children's partners.
The FMSC outing wasn't intended to be a one-time event.
Both Jason and Tyler would like to make volunteering with Feed My Starving Children a regular outing for Mr. Spring. The team is also looking for other opportunities to get involved and help people in the local community.
Tyler would especially like to return to FMSC with a bigger group from Mr. Spring.
“I honestly would love to do it again with more of us if possible,” he said.
The team also thinks FMSC is an easy place for other Minnesota businesses to start if they've been considering volunteering together.
“The openness of FMSC makes it easy for anyone to get involved,” the team said. “Signing up is very straightforward and the turnaround time to begin participating is quick.”
Tyler came away struck by how much these sessions depend on people simply showing up.
“It does kind of play a crucial role that people show up for these things,” he said.
It's a simple point, but probably the best way to sum up the day.
Four people from Mr. Spring gave up a few hours on a Friday. They packed boxes, competed with the tables around them, listened to a group of kids cheer their way through the session and helped prepare food for children they'll probably never meet.
And when the pallet was finally finished, Jason got to ring the bell.
Judging by the way he rang it, he'd probably volunteer to do that part again, too.
