Volunteers Pour In To Package Thousands of Meals For Haiti

The week-long Help for Haiti food packaging event started strong today with 1,227 volunteers showing up to package between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m.! During the first four hours of packaging this morning, volunteers assembled 213,840 meals that will be shipped to Haiti’s earthquake victims.

WHO Radio’s Van and Bonnie show broadcast live from Lutheran Church of Hope during the 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift while volunteers packaged the meals containing rice, vitamins, soy protein and dried vegetables.

More than 5,900 volunteers have registered to package meals throughout the week working toward our goal of packaging 2 million meals for Haitians. Originally, we were hoping to raise enough in donations to fund 300,000 meals. In just five weeks, individuals, churches, schools and businesses have raised enough funds to purchase the raw ingredients for volunteers to package as many as 2 million meals!

If you are still interested in volunteering, there are still open spots for host volunteers. Click here to learn more about host volunteering and available shifts.

We cannot thank you enough for all of your encouragement and support as we work to feed the hungry! God bless!

Haiti Relief Pours In

Meals from the Heartland has had the honor, over the last couple years, to have truly humbling support form our community as well as the local and national media.  As we come closer to the Help for Haiti packaging event on February 22nd, we’re seeing interest and commitments growing at an outstanding pace.

In just 30 days we have surpassed our goal of raising funding to package 300,000 meals for those suffering from the Haiti earthquakes to six times that.  YES! Thanks to our volunteers and Meals from the Heartland, the Help for Haiti event will be able to package 1.9 million meals!

Here is some of the media coverage from the local CBS affiliate, KCCI, that talks about Help for Haiti and the strides we have made in accomplishing this feat.

While Meals from the Heartland has worked hard in getting the word out, we do want to thank those that have helped with personal efforts.  We have seen everything from schools and social clubs to churches as well as our voice carried through social media to get the masses educated and motivated.  We can’t thank you enough.

Remember, the event is less than a week away and we could still use donations and volunteers.  To donate, please click here and submit your information.  If you would like to set up a team to package next week, please click here.

Thank you so much for your effort and your generosity.

God Bless!
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Help for Haiti Packaging Event 2-22-10

We are currently in the process of finalizing the details for the Help for Haiti packaging event scheduled to begin February 22, and are overwhelmed by the response of people who would like to help. Please remember, the number of meals we can package will depend completely on funding we receive until then.

The annual Meals from the Heartland event normally requires 9 months to a year to plan; we’re planning Help for Haiti in just 6 weeks. In that respect, we thank you for your patience while we fundraise, order food items, plan packaging shifts and coordinate volunteers. We understand that you feel the call to help, and we are doing all we can to create that opportunity.

We will soon be opening up registration for packaging volunteers, but in the meantime want to answer some of the most pressing questions about the event.

Online Registration:

Online registration will open Monday, February 8 for food packaging volunteers. If you would consider volunteering for a host or other volunteer positions (not packaging), online registration is now open (here).

Event:

The Help for Haiti packaging event will take place February 22-23 and 25-27. During that week we will package as many meals as possible.

Volunteering:

We will need volunteers to package meals, as well as host volunteers who are responsible for registering packagers, filling ingredients, etc. For more information about these positions, please click here.

Location:

Packaging will take place at the Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines. We are also exploring a second site for additional packaging, but will have more details later.

Training:

There will be two training sessions at Lutheran Church of Hope for all Host Positions:
In the Chapel on February 20th and 21st from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Shifts:

We are unsure at this point how many shifts will be available since we’re still taking donations and ordering supplies. However, we do know that shifts will be 1 hour so that we can provide the opportunity to package for as many people as possible.

NOTE: Unfortunately, we will not be to “hold” packaging slots or reserve tables for groups. If there is not enough space to accommodate your entire group, please remember that there will still be a need for help for the Meals from the Heartland annual packaging event, September 2-5 this year!

Mobile Packaging:

Meals from the Heartland now offers the opportunity to host on-site mobile packaging on a year-round basis. If you’re a church, school, business or another organization that has raised money and has the space to package, we’d be happy to work with you! To learn more about how to bring the mobile packaging unit to your location, please contact us at support@mealsfromtheheartland.org.

Donations/Fundraising:

If you are interested in donating to Meals from the Heartland, below are some ways you can help:

• Donate here online. Remember, one meal costs just 15 cents, so $50 feeds 333 hungry children
• Purchase your groceries at any Fareway store in Iowa and donate $1, $5 or $10 to go to Meals from the Heartland to package meals.
• Attend “Hearts for Haiti” this Friday, February 5, where all proceeds go toward packaging meals for Haiti. You can get more details here.
• If you have more fundraising ideas, please contact scott@mealsfromtheheartland.org.

We will continue to update this blog with information concerning the event as information becomes available to us. We are forever grateful for your interest and commitment to Meals from the Heartland and look forward to your help as we provide Help for Haiti.

Pray, Serve, Give,
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Help for Haiti – Details Coming Soon

We are in the process of finalizing the details for the February 22 Help for Haiti packaging event, and are overwhelmed and thankful for the outpouring of concern and interest in volunteering. We will soon be opening up registration for volunteers on the Web site. In the meantime, here is what we know:

* The Help for Haiti packaging event will take place during the week of February 22
* During that week we will package as many meals as funds allow
* Packaging will take place at the Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines
* Teams of 8-10 individuals will work in 1-hour shifts to package the meals
* Once completed, meals will be shipped to Haiti as soon as possible for those affected by the earthquakes

PLEASE REMEMBER: We are overjoyed with the overwhelming response of people who would like to volunteer. The number of meals packaged will depend completely on funding we receive until then. If you are interested in donating to Meals from the Heartland, below are some ways you can help:

* Donate here online. Remember, one meal costs just 15 cents, so $50 feeds 333 hungry children
* “Scan Away Hunger” and donate $1, $5 or $10 when you purchase your groceries at any Fareway store
* Attend “Hearts for Haiti” this Friday, February 5, where all proceeds go toward packaging meals for Haiti. You can get more details here.

We will continue to update the blog with information concerning the event as information becomes available to us. We are forever grateful for your interest and commitment to Meals from the Heartland and look forward to your help as we provide Help for Haiti.