More than 750 volunteers anticipated to attend event to end world hunger

Grande Prairie, Alberta, Jan 14, 2016–Stop Hunger Now and the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie, Alberta are joining forces in the fight against hunger.  More than 750 volunteers, Rotarians, students and community leaders will package meals for the world’s hungry on January 23 from 11 am to 5 pm at the D Coy Armory, 9005-101 Street, Grande Prairie, AB.
Stop Hunger Now meal packaging events are a volunteer-based program that coordinates the streamlined packaging of highly nutritious dehydrated meals comprised of rice, soy, vegetables and 23 essential vitamins and minerals. The Rotary Club of Grande Prairie and Rotary International District 5370 are committed to packaging a total of one million meals during this Rotary year, from July 1, 2015 thru June 30, 2016.
Dawn Miller, president of the Grande Prairie Rotary Club, said January is the 65th Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie, and the Rotary International theme this year is “Be a Gift to the World”. “As president, I could not think of a better event to celebrate our club’s anniversary than to ‘Be a Gift’ to the World and package 200,000 meals which will feed 1.2 million people in the world. This event brings our club, the other Rotary clubs, Interact clubs, Rotaract and the community as a whole together to celebrate what Rotary does best: ‘Service Above Self,’” said Miller.
Around the world, nearly 795 million people lack adequate food. Stop Hunger Now operates meal packaging locations in 21 cities throughout the U.S. and six international locations in South Africa, Malaysia, the Philippines, Italy, India and Peru. Last year, more than 274,800 volunteers from corporations, churches, schools and civic organizations packaged Stop Hunger Now meals.
Stop Hunger Now’s meal packaging program is closely aligned with Rotary’s six areas of focus, including maternal and child health, disease prevention, literacy and economic development.
Stop Hunger Now Rotary Relations Manager Chris Jones explained how unique it is to have this level of commitment and volunteer support from the local community. “While Stop Hunger Now has 21 U.S. locations and six international affiliates, we do not have a meal packaging warehouse or staff anywhere in Canada. We are grateful that these Rotarians are committed to ending global hunger.”
Volunteers can register here.
ABOUT STOP HUNGER NOW 
For more than 17 years, Stop Hunger Now has been creating a movement to end hunger.  More than 200,000,000 meals have been packaged and distributed along with other aid to 73 countries impacting millions of lives. The organization is driven by a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.
The Stop Hunger Now meal packaging program was created to give dedicated individuals the opportunity to participate in a hands-on international hunger relief program and to become educated, engaged advocates for the world’s poor and hungry.  In 2014, Stop Hunger Now and its global affiliates packaged 50.6 million meals.