By Camille Cox | Staff Writer
The Baylor Department of Accounting and Business Law partnered with the Pack Shack to pack meals for the Waco community on Wednesday.
“Light will Rise in the Darkness: BU 58:10 Project” allowed students to volunteer in shifts to pack the goal of 50,000 meals for the greater Waco area. Volunteers stood at tables and helped create an assembly line to package food and vitamins into boxes.
Professor Lauren Farish has worked on spreading the word and marketing this event on behalf of the Department of Accounting and Business Law.
“Getting things on our social media, getting posters and getting flyers out around and spreading the word has been the biggest part,” Farish said.
Farish said the project’s name was motivated by Isaiah 58:10 to show its missions and goals.
“It’s called Project 58:10, and that is lining up with the verse Isaiah 58:10, which is also on our shirts, that says light will rise in the darkness when you feed those in need,” Farish said. “So that is what we’re trying to do: we’re trying to tangibly bring the light where the light is needed.”
Midland senior Hollis Hightower and Dallas senior Jenny Jones worked together as the spokespeople for the event. Together, they prayed over the event, curated a playlist and helped spread awareness to get students involved.
“We were in charge of coordinating and emailing with different people from Feed the Funnel, Pack Shack and Serving Kids around America,” Jones said. “This is something that was important for the accounting department because they like to show that it is more than just writing checks.”
Hightower said they want to set a precedent for this event to occur in the future as well after having a large volunteer turnout.
“We hope that this is going to be something we do every single year, and so partnering with Kids Around the World is something that we do annually,” Hightower said.
Atlanta sophomore Anton Oswald participated in the event after hearing his accounting professor speak about the service opportunity.
“I felt like I was really helping my community alongside my peers,” Oswald said. “It was kind of cool because I also got to do it with my fraternity brothers.”
Farish said this event offered a real-life view at what food security looks like and how Baylor can help those in need.
“There’s a lot of talk about food security, and we hear about it, but you don’t always know exactly what you can do in a way, where you can see your impact,” Farish said. “Events like these, if we can make this the norm at Baylor, we’re giving students a chance to see tangibly how powerful their efforts can be when it’s multiplied by God.”
