Meals from the Heartland Annual Hunger Fight Packages a Record Number of Meals in 2020

The Meals from the Heartland Annual Hunger Fight is traditionally held over four days during late August/early September when 10,000 volunteers come together at Hy-Vee Hall to package food for those in need. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not able to package meals at Hy-Vee Hall this year, but that did not deter them from continuing to feed starving children. During the recent three-week event, 1,591 volunteers packaged a record 7,128,000 meals at the Meals from the Heartland's West Des Moines Patty Cownie Packaging Center.

In 2020, volunteer safety procedures were closely followed, including requiring all volunteers and staff to wear masks and gloves. A new bulk packaging procedure was also developed to package more meals with fewer volunteers. Bulk meals will be distributed to feeding initiatives in the following countries:

• Burkina Faso
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Nicaragua
• Philippines
• Togo

Volunteering for Packaging Shifts

Meals from the Heartland Executive Director Greg DeHaai says that even though the organization surpassed its goal for the event, the battle continues to end hunger. Volunteers are welcome to join the fight by signing up for two-hour meal packaging shifts at the Packaging Center Tuesdays through Saturdays. All are invited to participate.

Find out more about volunteering here, as well as where to donate here.

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