News : Vinton Feeds the World: Volunteers package 36,000 meals

Vinton Feeds the World: Hundreds of volunteers filled 36,000 bags on Sunday.

For the second straight year, nearly 300 volunteers representing several churches and other organizations and families, have gathered at the Vinton Skate Center to help feed the hungry, locally and around the globe.

Vinton Feeds the World organizer Marta Bauer, a member of Bethelehem Lutheran Church, said that a total of 278 volunteers helped package 36,072 meals.

Gathered around long tables in 13 stations, the volunteers took turns adding rice, beans and other ingredients, then sealing, labeling and boxing the packages.

Bryan Coffey of Outreach told the group that about half of the meals would go toward local families, and the other half to needy areas around the world. While residents of Haiti and Nepal have been recipients in the past, Coffey said the meals made in Vinton on Sunday are likely to wind up in Tanzania, where many of the 100,000 refugees who have fled from the terrorism, violence and political unrest in Berundi are facing famine.

Bethlehem Lutheran again organized the event, with groups from other churches assisting. Thirteen Station leaders organized the teams of volunteers of all ages, instructing them on the process. Other volunteers helped make sure each station had enough supplies and carried away the full boxes. The entire process took just a couple hours.

Food safety protocol rules applied: The volunteers wore hair/beard nets, aprons and gloves. Each package was labeled for quality control.

Each meal is designed to feed a family of six, and includes soy, rice, vegetables and protein

The packages for local families go toward a variety of organizations and food banks. Some from last year's effort went to HACAP, where they were delivered to Vinton-Shellsburg families who participate in the Operation Backpack program. That program to help area families will begin soon, as high school student leaders will begin preparing for the weekly distribution.

See more photos HERE.