MCC 'stickin' to chicken' for meat canning days

Col. Sanders may have a secret recipe and millions of customers who enjoy his menu at Kentucky Fried Chicken, but it fails to satisfy hunger globally like the canned chicken processed courtesy of Mennonite Central Committee’s meat canning crew, chicken assembled from many volunteers around the nation that reaches the tables of needy families in areas worldwide.

Every year Mennonite Central Committee’s mobile meat canning unit travels across the United States and Canada, where volunteers join together to prepare cans of chicken, beef, turkey and pork.

As has been the case since prior to 1970 when the building was built in Berlin, MCC will make its annual stop for the Holmes-Tuscarawas meat canning days. The meat canning dates for the site in Berlin are Tuesday, Jan. 23 through Friday, Jan. 26, all days operating from 6 a.m. to around 10 p.m.

According to board member Dwight Shoup, the choice of which type of meat to can was simple for the board.

“We’re stickin’ with chicken,” Shoup said.

MCC volunteers help can 30,000 pounds of chicken. According to Shoup, that has been the number of pounds for many years, and because it is chicken, which is the most accessible and least expensive meat of the meats packaged by MCC, it allows the organization to make the most of its money.

The canning process includes plenty of volunteer positions including filling, weighing, washing and labeling cans. Each local organization raises funds to cover the cost of the meat.

Those cans are sent to people in need around the world, providing nutrients, especially protein, when meat is hard to purchase, and each meal is seen as a delicacy, especially for families who have been displaced from their homes by the horrors of war.

In addition to shipping the meat to Akron, Pennsylvania, where it will then be shipped to nations around the globe, the local organization keeps one pallet of 40 boxes of meat that will be distributed locally to Holmes County Share-A-Christmas, the Love Center and Harbor of Hope at the Barrs Mills Church of God.

“This project will probably be so much more important to people around the world and close to home than we will ever know,” Shoup said.

One addition this year is MCC will let volunteers know to which country the meat they canned will go, which Shoup said makes the effort even more personal to those who volunteer.

According to H-T Meat Canning Committee board member David Lee Kauffman, the sign-up slots from 6-10 a.m. and 6-10 p.m. are both filled, so volunteers are still needed for the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2-6 p.m. slots.

“It’s always nice that we receive such a great push from volunteers,” Kauffman said. “One of the great positives in this community is that we are blessed with such caring, giving people. If there’s a need, whether close to home or globally, people are just willing to step in and help where they can.”

Last year MCC shipped 574,560 pounds of canned meat to families in Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, South Sudan, Ukraine, Zambia, the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

“It’s such a blessing in so many ways to so many people,” Kauffman said.

Anyone wishing to volunteer, whether an individual or group, may call Kauffman at 330-231-5661. Kauffman said food will be provided for volunteers in the way of hot ham and cheese sandwiches, cookies, and coffee.

Those wishing to make a monetary donation to the cause may send a check to Holmes-Tuscarawas Relief, P.O. Box 66, Berlin, OH 44610.