Efforts of Elon University volunteers at Homecoming 2009 bore fruit in Haiti this spring as meal packages distributed by the Stop Hunger Now project fed hundreds of residents left homeless from a January earthquake that killed a quarter million people.
The food, which was photographed and emailed to Elon’s Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement by a North Carolina woman volunteering in Haiti, had “Elon” stamped on packaging, said Mary Morrison, who oversees the center.
The photos may now serve as motivation for volunteers who will attempt to package as many as 20,000 meals at Homecoming 2010. “The meals always go to the most emergency situations,” Morrison said. “Haiti has had a real struggle with food so we thought it might go to the country because of the recent earthquake.”
For the past two Homecoming weekends, Elon Volunteers! and the Kernodle Center have partnered with the Raleigh-based Stop Hunger Now, an international nonprofit that has coordinated the packaging of more than 28 million meals since its founding in 1998.
Stop Hunger Now sets up the packing location, providing the food, funnels, scales and other equipment needed to pack meals. Volunteers serve at various stations to mix the rice, vegetables and chicken seasoning into bags, weigh and seal the bags, and pack them in boxes. Last year, 170 volunteers bagged 15,000 meals in one hour.
The program started at the university when EV! sought a way to commemorate the program’s 20th anniversary. The pack-a-thon takes place on the morning of Make a Difference Day and Homecoming.
The Kernodle Center and EV! are working to raise additional funding support for the fall and have received a substantial contribution from the Student Union Board. Student leaders in EV! will be planning and leading the event.
“For every $2,500 raised we are able to get 10,000 more meals,” Morrison said. “We recognize this is not systemic change and we know hunger issues are bigger than this immediate relief. This is about being part of humanity. There is no greater joy than connecting with other people through service.”
– Written by Sarah Costello ‘11