When we think about World Hunger we rarely consider the struggle our own neighbors are going through. Approximately 1.1 million Hoosiers need a supplemental meal service like food pantries or stamps and are still barely getting by. Pack Away Hunger was created to provide healthy, nourishing meals to local communities.
On April 2nd volunteers came together to bring Pack Away Hunger to Hobart, Indiana for the second year in a row.
Pack Away Hunger is a non profit organization. At their events, volunteers line up on either side of long tables where they will be measuring portions, sealing bags, and packing boxes full of Nutri-Plenty Meals.
“It’s a way we can help better our society and the community as a whole,” said Aaron Buhmann, a student of Hobart High School and member of the Junior ROTC. “People recognize that there is a problem.”
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Pack Away Hunger began in 2010 after Director Ron Pierce and his wife discovered a similar project in Greenwood, Indiana. They saw the way the community there was rallying to help their less fortunate peers, and the potential good a food service like that could do back home.
“It’s the chance to do something hands on,” he said. “Especially for the kids. They know they put food in a bag and someone is actually going to eat it.”
Dr. Gus Galante, the man who brought Pack Away Hunger to Hobart, agreed. “It’s really good to get the kids involved, and to teach them philanthropy early on.” Galante thought that it would be a good way to give back to the community.
Last year the job of packing food stayed among the staff of the St. Mary Medical Center’s Outpatient Surgery at Lake Park. This year, they decided to reach out to the students and families of the high school to get more people involved. The meals they made are going to help people right here in the region. It is a very real, very personal day of volunteering.
“Sometimes we get caught up and forget to take care of our own,” said Becki Maksimovich, another leader of Pack Away Hunger. “People, our neighbors, need our help.”
