Slide-Lok Minnesota works to help raise awareness of hunger

Slide-Lok of Minnesota, the local distributor of Slide-Lok products for the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, western Wisconsin and North Dakota, worked with World Vision, the Kids Against Hunger and Rockpoint Church to help raise awareness of the living conditions and the hunger situation of other kids around the world.

Through World Vision's relationship with Kids Against Hunger, the youth group at Rockpoint Church in Stillwater, MN was able to see and experience the reality of how more than half of the children in the world live. Brad Madison, President of the Slide-Lok of Minnesota and youth group leader for Rockpoint Church said, "It is very easy for kids living in the suburbs of any city in the United States to be immune to the hardships and realities of living conditions and hunger conditions of other kids around the world. It is a fact, we, in the United States, live in a bubble. Our society, for the most part, ignores the reality that there is hunger around the world.

Not only the hunger around the world, but also here in the United States; in Minnesota; yes, the Twin Cities. The youth of America do not always fully understand that more than 50% of the kids around the world go to bed hungry every night. In addition to being hungry those same kids do not live in conditions that provide a warm bed at night. Slide-Lok of Minnesota simply gave enough empty, used Slide-Lok boxes to the youth group at Rockpoint Church so that 200 kids could build shelters that replicated the living conditions of many, many children around the world.

In addition to living in card board boxes, we asked the kids to go on a 30 hour fast. We wanted our kids to experience, albeit short-term, what their peer's experience each and every day. Since hunger and shelter know no bounds, we tried to get the kids to understand that this experience of theirs was the reality for many kids, even kids within a 20 mile radius of their church. "

One participant said, "At first it was like, ' Why are we doing this? Living in a box and not eating for a weekend? ' At the end of our time doing this I was glad that I was here. I guess I never really thought about the other kids living in paper boxes and not having enough food to eat. You know, I get to go home and sleep in my own bed tonight and my mom will cook be breakfast in the morning. This helped me understand why we went to Kids Against Hunger and pack like a million meals "to be sent to kids. I felt pretty good about that. "

Madison continued, "Through the joint efforts of World Vision, the Kids Against Hunger, the youth of Rockpoint Church and Slide-Lok of Minnesota our church was not only able to raise over $ 30,000, the youth group kids help it package almost 37 pounds of food. This food will be sent to those children in need in our community and around the world. Most of the kids involved in this activity said that it was a powerful experience. "


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