Stop Hunger Now Commemorates 10 Years of Meal Packaging
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) December 08, 2015 -- This month, Stop Hunger Now will commemorate its 10th anniversary of packaging meals to feed people suffering from hunger across the globe. The international hunger relief organization, based in Raleigh, NC, has enlisted thousands of volunteers who have packaged over 225 million meals at 19 locations in the US and six locations abroad.
“Engaging volunteers in the meal-packaging process is an introduction to how easy it is to end hunger,” said Ray Buchanan, Founder of Stop Hunger Now. “When people package meals, they can see they can make a difference.”
Stop Hunger Now meal packaging events are a volunteer-based program that coordinates the streamlined packaging of highly nutritious dehydrated meals comprised of rice, soy, vegetables and 23 essential vitamins and minerals.
Initially developed to help provide rapid relief for disasters, meal packaging now is part of a larger strategy to help boost education and sustainable development in impoverished regions of the world. Stop Hunger Now distributes meals in 71 countries through schools, orphanages, health clinics, vocational training programs and, increasingly, through programs that focus on women’s health, women’s education and maternal & fetal health.
The first meal packaging event took place on Dec. 10, 2005, when 50 volunteers formed an assembly line at a Raleigh, N.C. warehouse. Those volunteers packaged 20,000 meals to feed people suffering from hunger. The Rev. Steve Hickle was pastor at Fairmont United Methodist Church and participated in that inaugural event.
“Meal packaging provides a highly visible point of entry for people to get involved in eradicating hunger, Hickle says. “By offering this experience, we’re having an impact on education and development in many places. We’re one piece of a growing movement, and we invite others to join with us in any place they can help end world hunger."
To mark the 10th anniversary of our meal packaging program, Stop Hunger Now will host an event at its Raleigh, NC warehouse on December 12, 2015, that is expected to attract several hundred volunteers who will package over 100,000 meals.
Founded in 1998, Stop Hunger Now has delivered aid and disaster relief supplies in the form of food, medical supplies, clothing, school supplies and more to thousands of disaster victims and other hungry and vulnerable people in 71 countries.
About Stop Hunger Now
Stop Hunger Now works to end hunger by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable people, and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources. Based in Raleigh, N.C., Stop Hunger Now operates meal packaging programs in 21 U.S. cities and in South Africa, Malaysia, India, Italy, Peru and the Philippines. For information, visit http://www.stophungernow.org.
Karen Cook, Stop Hunger Now, http://www.stophungernow.org, +1 919-447-1012, [email protected]
Share this article