Organizers say the volunteers who packaged meals on Oct. 22 set new school records for how many mouths will eventually be fed around the world.
More than 150 students, faculty, staff and alumni joined together over Homecoming weekend to “Stop Hunger Now” by packaging more than 30,000 high-protein, dehydrated rice-soy meals to be distributed around the world.
The annual Homecoming event set a new record for the number of meals packaged during the two-hour span: 30,720. The bags will provide international hunger relief through the Stop Hunger Now organization.
“I personally felt empowered by Stop Hunger Now because I felt like it was the simplest thing I could do in the whole process, but the minimum effort on my part results in someone eating for a week,” said sophomore Lizzie Harkey.
Campus Kitchen at Elon University spearheaded the project under the direction of staff member Holly Anderson, Campus Kitchen program coordinator, and student coordinators of Campus Kitchen Educational Programming, juniors Catherine Bell and Lindsay Swenson.
Various student organizations volunteered along with Laurie Lambert, an active supporter of Campus Kitchen on Elon’s campus and wife of President Leo M. Lambert. Jana Lynn Patterson, assistant vice president for Student Life, made opening remarks and thanked the volunteers for their time and effort.
WSOE 89.3 FM provided musical entertainment while a gong was banged for every 1,000th meal packaged to keep up the energy of volunteers throughout the morning. Students were also encouraged to reflect back on their service experience by signing a banner stating, “Why do you care about hunger?”
“Stop Hunger Now was a great way to serve the global community, and a lot of fun. The entire time you feel so engaged with the process and feel as though you’re making a real positive impact on people’s lives,” said sophomore Julia Okada. “I truly felt like I was making a difference with just a few hours out of my time.”
– Written by Elon University students Gretchen Cundiff and Aeriel Hall