17,000 pounds of deboned chicken meat arrived at the City of Kalona’s maintenance building on Wednesday, Dec. 7, followed by 50 volunteers ready to work the first shift on Thursday morning.  For some, it was their first time; for others, this was familiar fun.  But all of them were ready for “Together We Can.”

The Mennonite Central Committee debuted its first mobile canning trailer in 1946, a reaction to the devastation in post-war Europe that was in such contrast to their own plentiful food supply, thanks in part to their tradition of canning food to sustain themselves through winter.  Volunteers donated animals and their own time to can meat that would then be sent in relief packages across the ocean.

That tradition continues today.  Four canner operators travel with the trailer to 34 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada each year.  At each stop, 50 to 100 volunteers spend two or three days cutting or grinding the meat; stirring the meat; filling, weighing, and stacking cans; and washing, labeling, and boxing cans.  Wrapped pallets of canned and boxed meat are then loaded onto a semi, which will take them on the next leg of their journey to places they will provide relief, such as Haiti, Zambia, and Ukraine.

These days, however, no one is donating animals for processing.  The cost to turn thousands of pounds of chicken thighs into 11,314 cans of meat over three days is $44,000, an amount southeast Iowa churches must raise.

At midday on Thursday, the third of five shifts that day was completing their batch.  Steam circulated inside the mobile cannery, which was attached to the city’s maintenance building, where cut meat was salted and stirred in a steam-jacketed kettle. 

Once it reached at least 40F degrees, volunteers weighed and packed it into cans.  Another volunteer sealed the cans closed in a machine, then placed them in a basket bound for the pressure cooker. 

After more than 2 hours of cook time, the cans were cooled, then handed down to the lower level, where more volunteers washed and dried them before gluing on labels.  A printer applied production and expiration dates before volunteers packed them in boxes of 24 cans each.

Corrie Schlabach is a member of the local meat canning committee and has volunteered at the canning operation for several years.  Most of the time, “I help stock food for the shift,” she says of her role in keeping volunteers fed throughout their workday. 

“Hills Bank donates stuff for breakfast, and then we get local churches to help with food, too,” she says.  A delicious-looking tray of cream-cheese frosted carrot cake sits on a hospitality table, waiting for hungry volunteers to take a break.

Corrie’s husband Sylvan is treasurer of the committee and “My kids do it at nighttime, they come after school and they work.  There are a lot of kids here at night,” she says, indicating that the kids clean and label the cans.

“We have a lot of first-timers today,” she says as volunteers trickle in the door.  “People come in and ask, ‘What do we do?’ But everybody kind of just helps us out.  Once you stand up there and start talking, they tell you.  It’s not hard.  It’s pretty easy.  Little kids can do this.”

Committee chairman Wes Rinner has been involved with the canning process for 20 years.  He mentions that the last couple of years there wasn’t any canning in this area over COVID concerns, and that for years prior, volunteers canned meat in a rural Wellman location.  He appreciates the central location of the City of Kalona’s maintenance building this year.

The mobile cannery is “the only one like it in the world.  That’s what makes it unique,” Rinner explains.  “We’ve got to meet all of the federal regulations.  We’ve got all the equipment up there just like the big packing processors. . . I guess it’s kind of like a mini factory.”

“The thing about this is, it’s meat,” he continues, adding that other places in the country package a rice blend.  “The mice aren’t going to eat this.  This is good for three years, they say.”

The volunteers don’t know exactly where the chicken they canned this week will end up, but they do know that it will make a difference in people’s lives. 

This year, for example, canned meat was sent to help people affected by conflict in Ukraine. Reporting on MCC’s website, mcc.org, gives the following example: “Lena Skachkova and her two sons left their home in Lugansk when bombing intensified. At their new home in Nikopol, Skachkova is thainkful for MCC’s assistance in paying for utilities and medication.  ‘We make porridge with the canned meat,’ she says.”

Back in Kalona, Corrie looks forward to the canning event each year. “I’m excited about it, and I think most of the community gets excited about it,” she says. “Kalona is a very service-oriented area.  So, it’s easy and it’s fun.”

To contribute to MCC’s Meat Canning efforts, send checks to Southeast Iowa MCC Meat Canning, c/o Sylvan Schlabach, PO Box 621, Kalona, IA 52247.

The Kalona MCC Meat Canning Committee would like to thank Hills Bank of Kalona, Farmer’s Hen House, City of Kalona, Chris Schlabach Construction, The Kalona Sale Barn, area churches, and all the volunteers and donors. Through your generosity, we were able to make this possible again this year! May God bless you!