Dr. Ross and Dani Clevens’ Face of Change events provide thousands of meals in Brevard and abroad
During one of his medical missions to Africa Dr. Ross Clevens witnessed the impact Outreach Africa’s feeding centers have on the children of Tanzania — hundreds of children standing in line for food. “It brings tears to your eyes,” says Clevens. “These children, some of them homeless, all of them malnourished, waiting for what for most will be their only meal of the day. The Outreach project is also about upward mobility for these children, in order for them to receive meals they must be in school.”
The experience compelled Dr. Clevens and his wife Dani to organize a food packaging event early last year at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School that drew nearly 600 volunteers who packaged 100,000 nutritionally complete meals. The couple established Face of Change and working in conjunction with Outreach International in Iowa, shipped the meals to Tanzania. “It’s an incredibly efficient charity,” says Dr. Clevens. For 19-22 cents per meal, the food is delivered here for packaging and then sent to those in need.
Eight months later they hosted a second food packaging event at Florida Air Academy, this time to help those closer to home. “I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t as aware as I should have been that there is a real need here.” Second Harvest Food Bank estimates they need to provide 100.000 meals every month. “This time it was for our local community, with a pledge from Outreach International that for every meal we packaged for local residents, one would be donated to Tanzania.” More than 500 volunteers packaged 108,000 meal packages consisting of a black beans and rice and macaroni and cheese for Second Harvest. “They really appreciated what we did. At the end of the day I sat there with all those boxes of packaged food and watched them load up the truck. It felt really good.”
Dr. Clevens will return to Tanzania in April on a medical mission and in anticipation of that trip plans to host another food packaging event in March. He hopes that, as the event grows, fundraising efforts will increase. “One hundred percent of the donations go towards the purchase and delivery of the food.” Last year Outreach International packaged 80-million meals for people in Florida, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Tanzania. “It’s incredibly worthy,” says Clevens.
For more information about, or to donate to Face of Change food packaging events
visit drclevens.com or email info@drclevens.com
Face of Change
c/o Dr. Ross Clevens
200 South Harbor City Blvd.
Melboune, FL 32901
