81k meals packaged in Creston

As bags were filled, boxes were sealed and pallets were piled high, the amount of meals packaged at Meals from the Heartland continued to climb.

By the end of the day, the volunteers packaged more than 81,000 meals - enough to feed more than 300 kids every day for a year. It’s an increase of nearly 20,000 meals from last year.

This is the 13th year of the volunteer event, a program held by Lead UC and Southwestern Community College. Since its inception, the event has accumulated more than 830,000 meals packaged.

Meals from the Heartland began in 2008 in Des Moines. Since then, the organization has provided more than 250 million meals to the hungry in Iowa, across the nation and around the world.

This year, a total of 43 teams came together to volunteer their time and energy for the event, including Creston Community School District’s entire fifth grade and almost two dozen Lead UC participants. Each team works in hour-long slots, packaging approximately 300 bags.

Teams provide the funds for the meals, and on the day of, they bring seven to 10 volunteers to work on an assembly line, filling, weighing, sealing and packing meals.

“I would love to give a shout out to Lead UC alumni that came and helped during extra shifts: Olivia Cheers, Nate Haley, Cheyenne Roche and CT Stalker,” Union County Development Association Director Mindy Stalker said. “And not a Lead UC graduate, but Baret Lane as well.”

The day takes place in the SWCC gymnasium and is a part of the college’s annual Pay it Forward week.

The event targets hunger both locally and around the world. This is explained to volunteers prior to their shift. Approximately 20% of Iowa’s children are food insecure while more than 800 million are malnourished globally.

Meals from the Heartland produces two special meal formulas developed by food science and nutrition professionals to supplement nutritional needs to allow children to grow, thrive and become productive members of their community.

This event packaged the Hearty Pack, a bag containing rice, soy protein, vitamins, minerals and dried vegetables. Each serving provides 226 calories and 11 grams of protein.

Kennedy Strider, a Creston High School student with Lead UC Youth, has participated in Meals from the Heartland previously but said the experience is different when you’re helping facilitate the large-scale event.

“It’s a lot different working rather than just helping with it,” she explained. “Being behind the scenes, you’re keeping up on everything, you’re restocking. You’re running more than you thought you would be. It’s a lot of work.”

Lead UC volunteers make sure stations stay stocked with ingredients, help fill in smaller teams and gather finished boxes.

“It feels really good for us, all these volunteers that want to give back,” Strider said. “It looks really good on our community.”