More than 400 Millikin University students, faculty, staff, and alumni employed at ADM united for a special service opportunity focused on addressing food insecurity around the world.
The annual ADM-Millikin Day of Service, held as part of New Student Welcome Week, brought volunteers together at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church for the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Decatur Community MobilePackTM event. Volunteers worked side by side to assemble MannaPack® meals as part of a three-day effort to package more than 248,000 meals for communities experiencing hunger across the globe.
“Service is such an important part of the Millikin experience, and we want our students to understand from the very beginning that part of being Big Blue is making a difference in the lives of others,” said Molly Berry, Millikin’s Vice President of Admission & Student Affairs. “The ADM-Millikin Day of Service gives our students the opportunity to practice being democratic citizens in a global environment, while also connecting them with Millikin alumni who are making a difference right here in Decatur.”
The Day of Service continues a partnership between ADM and Millikin and is partially supported by ADM Cares, an initiative focused on prioritizing food security, sustainability, and health and well-being. While ADM supports communities where needs are greatest around the world, investing in Decatur remains a priority.
The event also highlighted the strong connection between ADM and Millikin. Bringing ADM employees and Millikin students together for a Day of Service provides an opportunity to make a difference while strengthening the connection between the two institutions.
“ADM employs 4,000 people in Decatur, 270 of which are Millikin alumni — the largest alumni group at the company — and I want us to continue that pipeline,” said Brandon Rick ’04, Fleet & Sustainability Manager with ADM Trucking. “Millikin has so much great talent. A lot of these students come from far away, and we want them to stay in this community. As a product of Millikin, I want to show them that Decatur — and ADM — are great places to be.”
During the MobilePack, volunteers worked in three areas — warehouse, labeling, and packing — helping prepare meals by hand. Each MannaPack contains rice, textured vegetable protein (TVP), vegetables, and essential vitamins. The TVP used in the meals is made from soybeans grown in the local community and manufactured at ADM facilities in Decatur, creating a meaningful connection between Central Illinois and the communities around the world that will receive the meals.
For FMSC, the hands-on nature of the work is intentional. Rather than relying on machines, volunteers assemble the meals themselves to create a direct connection between the people preparing the food and the children and families who will receive it.
“That is part of the reason I love this so much,” said Ryan Knott, Traveling Event Supervisor with FMSC. “It is a very tactile way for students to help in their communities. It’s nice to get the youth involved, because it’s good for them to give back.”
Knott anticipated that the groups would be able to pack between 180 and 200 boxes in each of the day’s two sessions. Volunteers packed well beyond that anticipated goal. They collectively filled 448 boxes containing nearly 97,000 meals, nearly 40% of FMSC’s overall goal for the event. Those efforts will allow 264 children to receive a daily meal for an entire year.
With hunger claiming the life of one person around the world every four seconds, the Day of Service offered Millikin and ADM the chance to work together and turn a few hours of service into a lasting impact for people both close to home and around the globe. The weight of that opportunity is not lost on volunteers.
“This truly is something much bigger than ourselves,” said Rick. “For Millikin to partner with us this year — and hopefully for years to come — means a lot, because I love ADM, I love Millikin, and I love Decatur.”
