An hour at Feed the Children will take you to the far reaches of the globe. Even something as simple as folding and taping boxes will have a global impact as you become part of an integral chain that provides food and supplies for some of the neediest people in the world.

To say I'm an expert is a bit of hyperbole. But I do have some experience.

My first "real" job (excluding lawn-cutting and house-painting) was delivering boxes of paper. Printed-paper, copied paper, collated paper, stapled paper – you name it, I delivered it.

But before it could be delivered, the last step in the quick-print process before loading it into the back of the van was to box it up. And guess what – those boxes don’t make themselves. Someone has to physically unfold and then refold the flats upon flats of dye-cut and corrugated cardboard, stitch them up with some heavy duty clear packing tape, and fill them to the brim with the aforementioned paper.

And that someone was me.

So, the few years of experience I gained working as a delivery boy did indeed prepare me for my brief volunteer stretch at Feed the Children.

Feed the Children is global. But in the U.S. there are six regional distribution centers that send out boxes of food that end up in more than 50,000 feeding shelters, homeless shelters, churches and various other organizations across this country.

50,000.

Nashville is home to one of the distribution centers, and one Monday a few weeks back, I had the pleasure of escorting five local teenagers to this gigantic warehouse to learn about what they do, and give a little bit of our time to assist in the endless effort to feed the world’s hungry.

Our tour guide, Mike, showed us the thousands of square feet of warehouse space, filled with huge boxes housing smaller boxes of dried fruit, cereal, toothbrushes, shampoo, and countless other items, as far as the eye could see.

Grocery stores ship in the big boxes. Volunteers and staff take out the smaller boxes. Those smaller boxes get grouped with other boxes (and cans and baggies) and get put in standard-sized boxes. And those boxes get stacked together, wrapped up tight, and sent out into the world to make a real difference for those in need.

So, we made boxes. We sat in a line with a tape gun in our hands and a song on the radio, and unfolded and refolded a couple hundred boxes that would later be filled with the staples of life that we too often take for granted.

We had an hour. We spent an hour. And Mike made sure to impress upon us the significance of our time and contribution. Because without the boxes, there is no place for the food to go. And the food is truly the giver and sustainer of life.

Every little bit matters – at Feed the Children and in our individual lives. When we have five minutes, we should take five minutes to learn more. When we have an hour, we should take an hour to give back. When we have a week, we should take a week to show love.

And pretty soon, we won't just take the time; we'll make the time.

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Ingredients:

• Team of willing box-makers
• Tape-gun (provided
• Lots of boxes (provided)
• Radio (optional)

Caring Time:

• 60 Minutes

Cost:

• FREE!

Results:

• Stack of boxes
• Boxes made that are badly needed to ship food around the country
• Heightened sensitivity to the needs of the world