More than 4 million meals packed during 2010 Meals from the Heartland Event

More than 14,437 people from 11 states and 6 countries gathered in Central Iowa from Sept. 2 – 5 to package 4,490,640 meals for Meals from the Heartland. The event is thought to be the United State’s largest volunteer food packaging event. The meals are currently on their way to  malnourished children and families living in Haiti, Jamaica, South Africa, and New Mexico. Support will also be provided to homeless veterans, homeless shelters and food banks in Iowa.

Highlights of the event:

• Volunteers came from eleven states, including: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
• Besides the United States, six other countries were represented by volunteers. Those included: China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Russia and Switzerland.
• More than 70 businesses, 80 churches and two-dozen area schools supported the event by contributing money, donated goods, services or other support, including sponsoring teams of volunteers to help package.
• On opening night of the event, 800 students from 21 area high schools packaged 327,888 meals during the “Student Challenge”, sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.
• Volunteers also donated thousands of pounds of food for the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) food pantry.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this event a success!

Your Generosity Continues To Feed Hungry Kids!

We’ve received more news from Haiti and our partners at Lifeline Christian Mission that Meals from the Heartland food packages are still helping kids in Haiti. The following is an excerpt from a recent Lifeline newsletter out of Haiti:

Food Distributions
Lifeline’s supply of food to distribute to the people in the tent cities (Relief Distribution) has now dwindled to the “Kids Food” that we receive from Kids Against Hunger, Impact Lives, Outreach International and Meals From The Heartland.  The other foods that were being shipped in have stopped coming (those from large organizations like World Food Program, etc.).

I am seeing better health in the kids that daily receive the hot meals through Lifeline, but there is no shortage of people coming to clinic who are in desperate need.  We continue to see many malnourished elderly, women, children and infants.

Thank you for your continued support of Meals from the Heartland! Without your time, donations and prayers, we wouldn’t be making such a difference!

Blessings,
The Meals from the Heartland Team

Help Provided By Iowa Meals…

We know that everyone is seeing and hearing heartbreaking stories through national media. Following are two stories of how the earthquake has impacted groups we support, and how Meals from the Heartland meals have been used to feed those in need.

Joy In Hope:

Following is an email received on Saturday night from a missionary with Joy In Hope, a non-profit organization dedicated solely to working in Haiti, that received some of the food we packaged last fall.

“My name is Leann Pye and I am a missionary living in Jacmel, Haiti.  In December we were given about 100 boxes of food from your organization.  We were planning on using it towards VBS and a soccer tournament we had planned. However, as you know, an earthquake devastated many parts of Haiti.  Jacmel is one town that has been hit hard. The road from Jacmel to Port-au-Prince is impassible with cars, tap-taps, and trucks. There are no supplies coming in and we don’t know when the road will be fixed. We have been able to feed hundreds of people daily since the earthquake because of your food. I can’t express my gratitude enough.  May God bless you and your ministry.”

In a separate email that followed, Leann wrote:

“Please communicate to your supporters that Jacmel is one area that has been greatly affected by your food. We don’t know where we would be without it. Thank you and God Bless!”

Food for the Poor:

Food for Poor, based in Miami, is one of the groups we partner with to place meals throughout the world. Leann Chong, a member of their staff that we have been working with, was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. She was trapped in her hotel for 17 hours before being rescued, but was able to return to Florida on Monday (with leg and other minor injuries).  The Food for the Poor warehouse and feeding center in Haiti was damaged, but reopened Monday and was able to serve over 20,000 meals on its first day. Due to damage of Haiti’s port, Food for the Poor is currently directing shipments to the Dominic Republic, and is transporting food to Haiti by land.

Please check back often for additional stories of how Meals from the Heartland’s efforts are helping!

Around The Globe

Meals from the Heartland provides food to hungry around the world. From Iowa to South Africa, our mission is to end world hunger.  Please pray, give and serve as Meals from the Heartland becomes the hunger fighting capitol of the world.