Ga. Christian Charity Breaks Guinness World Record With Nearly 3,000 Sandwiches in 1 Hour
A Georgia-based charity associated with the United Methodist Church may have broken the Guinness World Record for number of sandwiches made in one hour.
Action Ministries, a faith-based charity organization with ties to the UMC, reported making 2,988 sandwiches in one hour at a Saturday gathering on behalf of the group Smart Lunch, Smart Kid.
If confirmed by Guinness officials, this would pass the present record of 2,706 sandwiches set by Eckrich Bacon Lover's Deli Meats of New York City in May.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Sybil Davidson, associate director of Connectional Ministries for Communication of The UMC's North Georgia Conference, told The Christian Post that she was "thrilled" by the news. "The enthusiastic participation of church groups, college students, community members, public officials and corporate partners was wonderful," said Davidson.
Davidson also told CP that the event, which included thousands of sandwiches being made at other locations in Georgia, "brought focus to an important need that is often overlooked."
"According to Action Ministries, 800,000 children across Georgia qualify for free or reduced fee lunches during the school year. After a summer of hunger, many of these children return to school 15 to 20 pounds under weight," said Davidson.
"Smart Lunch, Smart Kid will provide 200,000 healthy lunches for these children in need of nutrition throughout the summer months."
The sandwich-making event that reportedly broke the record was held at Marvin United Methodist Church of Martinez, Ga. on Saturday. According to the church's website, the initial goal for the volunteer event was at least 1,700 cheese sandwiches.
"The timed sandwich-making will begin at 10:00 and end promptly at 11:00…We will be trying to make a minimum of 1700 cheese sandwiches (two slices of cheese between two slices of bread) during that time," reads the entry in part.
Sara Wilcox, spokeswoman for the Guinness World Records NA, Inc., told The Christian Post about the process of confirming the record claim by Action Ministries.
"We have received a claim from Action Ministries in regards to this record. When they registered, they received a set of guidelines that detail parameters of the record and what kind of documentation we will require to verify," said Wilcox.
"We will need to receive this documentation and then it typically takes around 8 weeks for a Records Manager to review."
Wilcox also told CP that the Eckrich record claim "was verified on the day" because a Guinness World Records "representative was on site."
