Every ministry has a mission. Mennonite Central Committee's (MCC) mobile canning ministry's mission is meat - the kind that provides protein, balances diets and nourishes hungry people.

No matter how one slices it, it's a very healthy ministry.

"Some people ask why we are shipping meat," said Joe Miller, who's been MCC's canning relations coordinator for five years. "The reason meat is important is because it contains protein. It's a great source of protein. For people who are nutritionally challenged, meat is important. A child's brain needs protein to develop. Meat is an efficient way to provide protein."

MCC's facilities at 21 S. Twelfth St. in Akron serve as the organization's world headquarters. The location is also the home base of the mobile meat canning ministry, a unique initiative that seeks to fight hunger around the globe and proliferate MCC's mission of serving those in need.

"We can meat and send it to places around the world where there's hunger," said Miller. "It's feeding hungry people. The need is enormous. Between war and natural disasters, there are spots around the world where the need is desperate. For us, as Anabaptists, we see so much suffering in the world that's related to violence and war."

While MCC provides the equipment and know-how, much of the work and product for the mobile meat canning ministry is supplied by volunteers at 28 sister organizations in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and Kansas. The massive canning equipment is hauled by a tractor trailer to the destinations by four MCC volunteers, who also set up the equipment and provide expertise on its operations.

Lancaster County is home to four of those canning locations.

"We have four young adult males who we trained that travel with the canning equipment, and they do the technical work," said Miller. "Each of the communities we are connected to has up to 60 people doing the canning. Most of these locations we go to every year. The communities purchase the meat from a wholesaler, and there's a deep bench of knowledge at these communities."

After the meat - beef, pork, chicken or turkey - is canned, the finished product is returned to MCC and stored in its warehouse in Ephrata. From there, the canned meat is sent to Baltimore Harbor, where it is shipped to 25 countries around the world, places like Ethiopia, Cuba, Ukraine, Malawi, Lebanon, North Korea, Haiti, Nicaragua, Burundi, South Sudan and even the United States and Puerto Rico.

At various stages of the process, the product is inspected multiple times by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

"We don't want to just help people, but also recognize that they have dignity," said Miller. "For us, it's just a Christian response. We've been blessed, and we want to share that. I want people to recognize how blessed they are. We live in one of the most bountiful food centers in the United States."

MCC was established in Akron in the mid 1940s, after World War II, when Mennonite men returned home from serving their country in civilian groups as conscientious objectors. MCC, which operates under the tagline of "Relief, Development and Peace in the Name of Christ," began its mobile meat canning ministry in the early 1950s. Since then, the ministry has helped nourish millions of hungry individuals around the world.

"We see (relief, development and peace) as being deeply related," said Miller. "What we're doing with meat is the relief side of what we do. People need it as a resource to get started again. As Christians, we want to be a blessing to people around the world. We get different organizations from around the world making requests. We ask ourselves, 'Where are the places of hurt? Where are places of conflict in the world?' We want to minister to that."

For additional information, go to http://www.mcc.org.