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Mennonite charity asks help sending meat to troubled spots

Three-year-old Emerance Bayi, from DR Congo, celebrates receiving canned meat at a distribution in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Dowa, Malawi, on September 24, 2024.
Provided
Three-year-old Emerance Bayi, from DR Congo, celebrates receiving canned meat at a distribution in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Dowa, Malawi, on September 24, 2024.

If you’re looking for a chance to give this holiday season, a longtime Goshen area nonprofit has an opportunity.

In Goshen since at least the 1990s, the Mennonite Central Committee has gathered volunteers to pack up what they believe is the world’s only mobile meat canner. The charity takes the converted trailer to farming areas around the country and packs meat – turkey, beef, chicken and pork, into cans. After adding a teaspoon of salt, volunteers then ship the canned meat to places around the world where people can’t access meat because of war, famine or natural disasters.

The charity is asking for help packing 80,000 pounds of chicken at The Depot in Goshen from January 6 through the 16th. Or you can donate money to help pay for the chicken.

Eric Kurtz is the group’s Midwest executive director.

"A lot of the canning is done by some of the Amish congregations in the area but we have a range of people who come and just spend an hour or a day helping to process the meat, and getting it canned and ready to go," Kurtz said.

The nonprofit sends the mobile canner to farm areas from October through April, from Kansas and Nebraska to Pennsylvania and New York. Over the past year they shipped over 650,000 pounds of canned meat to Ukraine, South Sudan, Zambia, Cuba and some areas within the U.S.

Parrott, a longtime public radio fan, comes to WVPE with about 25 years of journalism experience at newspapers in Indiana and Michigan, including 13 years at The South Bend Tribune. He and Kristi have two children currently attending Indiana University in Bloomington. In his free time he enjoys fixing up their home, following his favorite college and professional sports teams, and watching TV (yes that's an acceptable hobby).