On the evening of January 20th, 2016, members of the Gothenburg RRT gathered with about 200 other volunteers at the local high school to participate in the Stop Hunger Now campaign.

The assembly line of volunteers preparing the meals

Stop Hunger Now has a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, and creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.  Since their foundation in 1998 they have provided over 225 million meals throughout 73 countries.

One in three people in developing countries suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  By addressing the problem of hunger, Stop Hunger Now helps stimulate relief and longer-term solutions to address a broad range of interconnected humanitarian needs.

Volunteers filling the boxes with the meals.

Gothenburg’s local FFA (Food For All) chapter did an awesome job of raising $8004.00 in the fall of 2015 through a series of three fundraisers.  With this sum of money the volunteers were able to assemble more than 23,000 meals in about two hours!  Each meal, costing $0.29, consists of a combination of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a flavouring mix that includes 23 essential vitamins and minerals.  RRT members helped set up and take down packing stations throughout the school’s cafeteria, helped with the packaging of meals in which ingredients were scooped into meal bags, weighed, and then sealed.  The sealed bags were then placed into labelled boxes and loaded to a truck provided by the Stop Hunger group.  In about two months we’ll find out which country the meals were distributed to.

Assembling and Labelling the cardboard boxes.

Once the boxes of meals are back at the Stop Hunger Now warehouse they distribute them through feeding programs operated by partner organizations in developing countries . Organisations that the food may be sent to include those that promote education, encourage children to attend school, improve students’ health and nutrition, address gender inequalities, stimulate economic growth, fight child labour, and are a part of the movement to address global issues.  The meals support school feeding programs, orphanages, and crisis relief.

Loading the labelled boxes into the Box Truck

The organizers of the Stop Hunger Now campaign were very thankful for the Gothenburg RRT’s assistance and Gothenburg RRT considers it a huge privilege to be able to participate in the Stop Hunger Now campaign and help their mission of ending hunger.  We look forward to helping at next year’s event!

Related Articles

Community | Compassion | Support

Help us make a difference

Contribute through monthly or one-off donations and support the Rapid Relief Team’s work across Australia