Do you believe it’s possible to end world hunger by the year 2030?  We do. Our volunteers do. Our partners do. And in fact, the United Nations targeted “zero hunger” as one of its top Global Goals.
Here’s the good news: The number of people in the world suffering from hunger has dropped to 795 million since 1990 according the United Nations. There are 216 million fewer people suffering from hunger today than there were 26 years ago. But there is much work to be done.
As one of our nearly 300,000 volunteers that work with with Stop Hunger Now each year, we need your help to get more people involved, committed, and taking action in the fight against hunger.  “We have to engage people to become advocates for the poor,” says  Allen Renquist, Chief Programs Officer for Stop Hunger Now. “We have to get people to care, and to engage themselves and their families in a hands-on way in the fight against hunger.”
Here are 5 things you can do now:

1. Share your story. What is your experience with Stop Hunger Now? What did you learn packaging meals or volunteering for those in need?  What is it about our mission that moves you? Tell someone and help grow the movement.
2. Be an advocate. Have a voice in the fight against global hunger. Learn how to build the will to end hunger through groups like the Alliance to End Hunger. “We need governments around the world to invest resources in poverty solutions,” says Renquist.  Your voice can make a difference.
3. Show your support on social media. Retweet, repost or be one of our 3,000 followers in Instagram. Follow Stop Hunger Now, the World Food Programme and other organizations committed to ending world hunger. Show your support and get others engaged.
4. Organize a meal packaging event. Take the initiative to organize a meal packaging event with a business, school, faith organization, team, or civic club. What groups do you know that support humanitarian issues like ending hunger? Here are two great videos that show what meal packaging and giving back is all about: Rotarians in action and The Hershey Company’s “I’m Giving Back” campaign.
5. Think beyond meal packaging. How else can you get engaged? Think about the people and groups you know who may want to support disaster relief, sustainable agriculture projects, clean water initiatives or have connections to provide aid such as clothing, food, and medical supplies. For example: someone attending a meal packaging event recently offered to provide warehouse space in one of our newer locations. We are grateful for this resource from a volunteer who wanted to do more. You, too, can be a link to help get more resources to people who need them.

Let’s do more in 2016. Let’s find more first-time volunteers to get onboard like Jessie Dresher, who said after her first meal packaging event, “As a fellow dreamer of world-problem solving, it is encouraging to see and hear that with hard work and a whole lot of passion, change can happen.” Learn how you can do more.