Marley Huddleston helps out at the Stop Hunger Now meal packing event at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Daleville. Photo by Leslie Littlefield

On Saturday, Oct. 27, the Fellowship Hall of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Daleville was bustling with people of all ages during its annual Stop Hunger Now meal-packing event.

In just two and a half hours, enough nutritious meals were mixed, bagged and boxed to feed 14,000 of the more than 1 billion people worldwide who suffer from the devastating effects of hunger.

The Stop Hunger Now meals are a blend of dehydrated vegetables, protein, vitamins and rice, which, when mixed with clean water and cooked, provide a nutrient-rich hot meal to those who need it most. The meals are shipped internationally to regions experiencing the greatest need and particularly to children as part of school feeding programs in developing countries.

In past years, some of the meals packed at St. Mark’s have been sent to an orphanage in Haiti and the Horn of Africa region, which continues to experience staggering drought and famine. This year’s event brought the total meals purchased and packed by St. Mark’s to more than 58,000.

Throughout the year, St. Mark’s members raise and contribute funds that pay for the cost of these meals. St. Mark’s, through its year-round hunger ministry, That All Might Eat (TAME), continues to seek ways to help the growing number of people who do not have enough to eat. TAME also collects and donates food locally, and raises funds for other international and local hunger relief causes.

Anyone wishing to learn more is invited to call the church at 992-3030.

– Submitted by Debbie Guiliani