LUTZ, Fla. — About 150 volunteers packed into Grace Family Church's Lutz campus on Sunday, donning red hairnets, gloves, and smiles. Each person arrived ready to make a global impact.
The church partnered with international nonprofit Rise Against Hunger for Serve Week, packaging 25,000 meals in about 2 hours.
Jeff Randall, Associate Pastor at Grace Family Church in Lutz, said the event was about more than just food.
"Family is our middle name, and as you can see behind us, we've got families serving here together, we've got kids, we've got moms, dads, and what an opportunity to teach these kids how they can serve someone else. They're never going to meet. They're never going to see the recipient of this meal."
Volunteers scooped, bagged, measured, sealed, and boxed food items that will be shipped to people facing food insecurity worldwide.
Abbi Pearman, Event Facilitator for Rise Against Hunger, described what goes into each meal.
"We have rice, soy as our protein source, dehydrated vegetables - it's a mix of several different vegetables. And then a vitamin and mineral packet that's about 20 different vitamins and nutrients."
Pearman said the meals are designed to travel far and be adapted locally.
"Those meals go all kinds of places, mostly to school feeding programs, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean."
The 25,000 meals packed at the Lutz location break down into 116 boxes, with each box containing 216 meals.
"So those 25,000 meals look like 116 boxes. Each of those boxes is 216 meals, our meal bags have six servings in them, and so that's really important," Pearman said.
Pearman added that the compact packaging makes it easier to reach remote, last-mile communities. One box provides one child with a meal a day for a full school year.
In about a month, Rise Against Hunger will know exactly where the meals are headed.
The Lutz event is one of eight Grace Family Church campus events taking place over three days. Across all locations, the church aims to package a combined 137,000 meals.
Randall said the partnership with Rise Against Hunger is not new, and enthusiasm continues to grow.
"This is a continuation of a partnership we've had for years. And when she asked the group here, how many have done this before, I think half of the people raised their hands more. So this is something they look forward to, and they come back over and over to do it."
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