At first they were a little apprehensive about trying it. "It's green!" they pointed out, eyeing the glass warily.

But once the word got out about how delicious it was, it didn't take long for the Sun Chlorella Green Machine smoothie to start flying off the Midnight Mission's serving line. As the delighted diners discovered, this green smoothie recipe (see below) can convert even the toughest skeptic.

Toting blenders from home, cases of frozen fruit, boxes of Sun Chlorella Powder and one super green smoothie recipe, close to 50 volunteers from Sun Chlorella volunteered for a day at Los Angeles' Midnight Mission. They were eager to share chlorella's green goodness and their enthusiasm for healthy living with the shelter's homeless men, women and children.

The volunteers helped serve and clean-up for both lunch and dinner, serving an estimated 1500 people at each meal. As a special contribution using ingredients donated by Sun Chlorella, Sun Chlorella volunteers set up a smoothie station on the lunch line. There, they whizzed up hundreds of servings of Green Machine smoothies and handed them out along with Sun Chlorella tablet sample packs.

It was an amazing experience seeing the response from the shelter's residents. They weren't just interested in the chlorella we brought along, they were simply intent on learning anything they could about health.

When I first visited the Midnight Mission, I was so impressed. By offering much-needed guidance in life skills and comprehensive services, they're helping people turn their life around. Their mission of enabling people to enjoy full, healthy lives melds perfectly with Sun Chlorella's mission. That's why I was so eager to find ways we could offer them long-term support.

First opened in 1914, the Midnight Mission is one of the oldest continuously running human services organizations in the Los Angeles area. In addition to providing emergency meals, the Mission also runs a residency program to help homeless individuals battle addiction and get on a path towards self-sufficiency.

Sun Chlorella's support for the Midnight Mission started with serving Thanksgiving meals in 2013. Then we toted over smoothie ingredients and chlorella tablets and volunteered to help serve meals this April. In addition, to further the Midnight Mission's commitment to helping people build healthy lives, Sun Chlorella donated $5000 to support the residency program's health and wellness programs.

Future volunteer plans include setting up a Sun Chlorella booth and participating in the Midnight Mission's June 22 ^nd's 5 and 10 K walk/run. A Sun Chlorella sponsored field trip to The Gentle Barn for children at the Midnight Mission's Inglewood Center is also in the works.

The volunteers for this April Service Day included myself, Futoshi Nakayama, President and CEO; and Jennifer Jimenez, Associate Director. Kengo Nishimura, in charge of corporate responsibility from Sun Chlorella Corporation in Japan, also joined us. The volunteers hailed from all departments and included many friends and family members of Sun Chlorella employees. Volunteering together gave us a chance to get to know each other better. And consequently, helped us grow closer as a company.

Many Sun Chlorella employees remarked afterwards how much it meant to them to be part of a company that contributes like this. Several said that this was the first time they'd experienced this in the workplace. At Sun Chlorella USA, investing in our larger community is an integral part of who we are as a company. We understand that when we help our neighbors, we all end up better off.

Ultimately, it wasn't only the Midnight Mission clients who gained in this experience.