Meals of Hope Hits Milestone
Courtesy of Naples Daily News.
Food insecurity is on the rise in the U.S, with more than 44 million living in “food insecure households.”
Meals of Hope, the popular meal packing charity, has achieved a milestone.
The Naples-based food charity hit an all-time high: 100 million meals have been packed.
It happened Sunday in Southbridge, Massachusetts, said Stephen Popper, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit agency.
Always with his eye toward his next goal, Popper said he hopes the organization can achieve packing 30 million meals a year.
Meals of Hope started in Collier in 2007 to serve the local community but the organization today coordinates meal packing events in communities throughout the U.S. and outside the country.
The packing events with tables lined up and huge plastic-lined boxes of the ingredients are big draws for volunteers with churches, schools, employers and civic groups to have fun and help others.
The organization has eight different meals with dried and fortified ingredients. When one bag is mixed with water and prepared, it can feed six to eight people.
Meals of Hope Runs 15 Food Pantries
Besides meal packing, Meals operates 15 food pantries a week in Lee and Collier, which includes baby food pantries.
Families can get formula, baby cereal, stage one to four baby food, fresh produce and meat. The baby pantries distribute diapers, bottles, bibs and other baby necessities.
A third way Meals helps tackle hunger is through its partnership with Pan Florida Challenge to source and distribute each month more than 10,000 weekend backpacks of food to the neediest elementary school children in Collier, Lee and Palm Beach counties.
The organization has 30,000 volunteers and 19 full and part-time staff.
Food insecurity in the U.S. is on the rise and inflation has fueled challenges for families.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in its annual report last October that food insecurity increased from 10.2% in 2021 to 12.8% in 2022.
The data shows 44.2 million people are living in food insecure households in 2022, the latest year data is available. Of that, roughly 7.3 million are children.
Meals serves 4,000 people a week at its food pantries, Popper said.
“The reality is we have never been busier than we are right now,” he said.
Learn more about the organization at https://mealsofhope.org/ or call 239-537-7775. To get you or your organization involved in our next meal packing event, fill out our form here. We can’t wait to hear from you!