Temple Volunteers Make 24,000 Meals in 3 Hours

With the help of local volunteers, Kids Against Hunger packaged 24,624 meals for school children in Haiti last Saturday.

Volunteers put on hairnets and aprons and got to work packing meals of rice, soy, a dehydrated blend of six vegetables and a mineral powder that provides 21 essential vitamins and nutrients.

“You invested three hours of your week in order to feed 400 kids for a month. I’m really excited about that,” Director Lamar Eidson said.

Since its inception, Kids Against Hunger has provided over 200 million meals for children in the United States and 60 different countries.

The organization runs on the premise that malnutrition is a leading cause of starvation. Their premade meals are full of vital ingredients needed to guide children toward healthy development.  With a child dying every six seconds from hunger and related causes, Kids Against Hunger is taking a small, but necessary step toward the eradication of global poverty.

“This challenge is greater than one organization. The problem is not finding volunteers, or one of logistics, although these are real issues,” the organization’s website said.

Kids Against Hunger cannot fight food shortages without awareness and local involvement. They don’t just work overseas but are trying to feed kids as close as Texas.

“We must continue to raise awareness of the issue of world hunger, specifically how it is affecting the children of the world, so that the resources that are available can be focused on what is arguably the most pressing issue of our time: that of STARVATION!” The organization's website said.

Volunteers from local organizations like Altrusa International and the ASTRA clubs of University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Belton High School stood in assembly lines to complete the meals. Some volunteers mentioned they didn’t even know issues like world hunger were being addressed in Temple.

“So much goes on in this community that no one ever hears about.” One Altrusa volunteer said. “I would have never known this was going on.”

Every year, $165 billion worth of food is thrown out in the United States. This amount could feed 25 million people. With 49 million people in the United States living in homes with an inadequate supply of food, organizations like Kids Against Hunger are crucial to solving the  global food crisis.

The food will be sent with Belton organization Hope for the Hungry to provide meals for their schools and orphanages in Haiti.

After meeting their goal of over 20,000 meals, volunteers tried the mix of rice and soy they had just finished packaging.

“Wow,” ASTRA volunteer Kimberly Chavez said. “This is actually pretty good.