Rise against Hunger packs 10,000 meals

RISE AGAINST HUNGER PACKS 10,000 MEALS. The Rockville Christian Church recently held a meal packaging event where some 50 volunteers packaged just over 10,000 meals in two hours. The rice and soy fortified meal packets were distributed to 74 countries world-wide, impacting more than 1.4 million lives. More than 430,000 volunteers have been involved, packaging 477 million meals. A single package can provide six meals by simply boiling the contents in water. Rockville Christian Church provided the funding for the project, purchasing the materials and supplies while a Rise Against Hunger volunteer brought all of the necessary equipment to set up the assembly lines for packaging. Founded in 1998 by Ray Buchanan, a United Methodist minister and John Hewitt, accountant and co-founder of the Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service, the North Carolina-based charity receive more than $26 million worth of in-kind donations last year. They are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2 of ending hunger by 2030. One in nine people world-wide, some 815 million, go to bed hungry each night, not getting enough food to live a healthy life. (Sentinel photos by Larry Bemis)