Holidays without Hunger

Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro will host the first-ever Meals of Hope meal-packing event to benefit the food insecure in the Triad area. Volunteers from local organizations, churches, and civic groups will gather to assemble 100,000 meals to be delivered to Greensboro Urban Ministry, an organization that operates through contributions made by Greensboro residents, local service groups, churches, businesses and local food merchants.

The event will take place on Saturday, December 13^th, from 2pm – 4pm. Area individuals, businesses, and civic groups are invited to participate in this community-wide event, where hundreds of volunteers will roll up their sleeves and in two short hours, pack 100,000 meals for adults and children who are often not sure where they will get their next nutritious meal.

Food packages, which are distributed by Meals of Hope’s accredited food bank partners, offer more than nutrition. To a child who is dealing with the stress and insecurity of not knowing how or when he will receive his next meal,  a comforting bowl of macaroni and cheese or beans and rice (both fortified with soy protein and 21 vitamins and minerals), provides a bit of hope to carry him through another day.

“There is a silent epidemic happening within our country today, and although the reality can be overwhelming, Meals of Hope and its partners are making definite strides in combating hunger and food insecurity here at home,” says Executive Director Stephen Popper.

According to a 2012 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 48.8 million people in the United Sates live in food-insecure households with 16.1 million of these households having “very low food security,” meaning that one or more people in the household were hungry over the course of the year because of the inability to afford enough food. Greensboro ranks #1 in the COUNTRY for rise in poverty in neighborhoods and 1 in 4 families are food insecure in Greensboro.

To find out how your business or civic group can participate in the Greensboro Meal-Packing Event, please contact Greg Wilkerson, program director, at 919-622-9684 or gwilkerson@mealsofhope.org.

Meals of Hope is a nonprofit 501(c)3, so all donations are 100% tax deductible. Organizations such as schools, faith-based groups, trade/professional associations, and other for-profit and not-for-profit businesses have found a Meals of Hope meal-packing event to be amazing team-building experience as well as a way of getting employees, students and volunteers directly involved in the process of combating hunger in their communities.