History

The inspiration for the Meals from the Heartland effort began with a 2007 food packaging event held by Kids Against Hunger and sponsored by Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa. The success of that event encouraged leaders to organize a community-wide food packaging event that would involve more volunteers to feed hungry children and families around the world. It was that leap of faith that brought Meals from the Heartland to Des Moines in 2008, resulting in 12,000 volunteers who packaged more than 4 million meals in a week’s time.

Since that event, Meals from the Heartland has continued annual mass meal packaging events. Each year, more and more volunteers come together in downtown Des Moines for a few days to packaging millions of meals. The meals are shipped to locations throughout the world, varying from local food pantries to South Africa and beyond.

The effort has grown so much that Meals from the Heartland now offers what we call “Hunger Fights” throughout the year, along with our annual mass event. Hunger is serious, people are starving – we are leading the fight to end it.