More than 120 people, including a couple of pre-teens, volunteered their time to package thousands of fortified meals for Orlando’s hungry, at the End Time Sabbath Worship Center on Orlando’s west side.
Stephen Popper, executive director of Meals of Hope, said the meal packing event on Sunday, was just one of 60-70 that the non-profit organizes annually across Florida.
“Our goal is to package 50,000 fortified meals this afternoon, for people who are hungry in the Orlando area,” said Popper, who founded Meals of Hope 6 1/2 years ago. “What’s important is the way we pack – it’s a hands on approach and these 120 volunteers are making a difference for thousands of people.”
Derrick Wallace, one of the candidates in the race for Orange County Commissioner, District 6, was among the many volunteers. He’s appreciative of organizations like Meals of Hope that help to feed the hungry.
“We live in the world’s wealthiest nation, yet one in four children goes hungry in Central Florida,” said Wallace, who is seeking to represent a largely poverty-stricken district. “We owe so much to non-profits like Meals of Hope that work tirelessly to feed the hungry. But, I really believe for us to meet the challenge of hunger we must tackle the continued prevalence of poverty.”
Wallace said, any assault on poverty will only come about when people have good jobs and greater educational opportunities, priorities on which he is focusing his campaign.
“It makes me feel good to know that I’m helping people,” added Wallace, who worked along with a group of volunteers scooping up macaroni and funneling it into bags for packaging.
According to a 2011 study, Central Florida ranks higher than the national average in terms of the percentage of the population that is in need of food. And, based on the most recent Hunger Study for Central Florida, the number of different people receiving help through food programs grew to 732,000 in 2010, a 152% increase over the previous four years. The new Hunger Study in America will be released in summer 2014.
Popper said that since Meals of Hope was founded in 2007, the non-profit has packaged and distributed over 20 million fortified meals through food banks. The 50,000 meals packaged Sunday will go to Feeding America in Orlando which in turn will distribute them free of cost to hundreds of agencies and good pantries. The organization also packages two other fortified meals – beans and rice casserole and soy chicken, vegetable and rice dinners, in addition to macaroni and cheese.
Formerly a Naples businessman with nearly three decades in the lumber industry, Popper established Meals of Hope almost by default, after his mother asked him to ship food to a poor school in Haiti. He had never shipped food or anything else to Haiti, he says, but set about learning the packing business. He held his first food packing event in August 2007, where 500 volunteers showed up and packaged 135,000 meals.
“It was a wonderful experience,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about hunger, but when I realized the positive impact of these food packing events I decided to take the successful formula to other communities.”
Popper said, Meals of Hope would like to do more food packing events in Orlando, given the need. “I am always trying to get more people fed because it is only through the grace of God my children aren’t going to bed hungry,” he said, when asked what motivates him. “I want to make sure all these hungry kids are fed.”
Sponsor and host organizations have found that Meals of Hope Food Packing Events are a great way to engage members while further enhancing their organizations’ relevance within their local communities, he added.
For more information on Meals of Hope visit: mealsofhope.org.
