Volunteers Rise to Package Meals in Honor of the Late Nelson Mandela

This month, thousands of volunteers will join a global movement to package meals with Rise Against Hunger in recognition of Mandela Day, celebrated each year on July 18 to commemorate the late Nelson Mandela’s legacy. In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly designated “Nelson Mandela International Day” in honor of the former South African President to recognize his contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
Rise Against Hunger, an international hunger relief organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina, is working with partners to orchestrate meal packaging events starting July 14 in honor of Nelson Mandela. In South Africa, volunteers will package 3 million meals. In the U.S., meal packaging events are being held in Raleigh and Houston.
Rise Against Hunger South Africa is leading the charge on this initiative to encourage volunteers to devote 67 minutes of their time to make a positive difference in honor of Mandela Day — one minute for every year of Mandela’s public service. Rise Against Hunger kicked off Mandela Day activities with a gala and large-scale meal packaging events on July 13 and 14. Thousands of volunteers will be packaging meals throughout the month of July to benefit vulnerable children in early childhood development centers and university students who battle chronic hunger.
There are 2.5 million children in South Africa who face chronic hunger every day and children who experience malnutrition in the crucial early phases of development experience learning difficulties. One of the outcomes of the meal packaging events is that 67 minutes of each participant’s time feeds a child for an entire year.
About Rise Against Hunger:
Rise Against Hunger (formerly Stop Hunger Now), an international hunger relief organization based in Raleigh, N.C., works to implement immediate and long-term solutions to hunger worldwide. With program locations in 20 U.S. cities and five international offices, Rise Against Hunger has engaged volunteers to package more than 333 million nutrient rich meals for distribution to 74 countries around the globe. To find out more about Rise Against Hunger’s efforts to end hunger worldwide, please visit www.riseagainsthungerindia.org.