On Saturday, September 16th West End Presbyterian Church hosted the annual Rise Against Hunger event – formerly known as Stop Hunger Now. During this event, volunteers would package meals consisting of rice, soy, and vitamins to be shipped out for those in need.
The event proved to be successful with more than 200 volunteers from the community. Together, they were able to package more than 65,600 meals.
More than $19,000 had been raised by the community and local churches in order to fund the meals.
While food was being measured and packaged, Chaplain Archie Stevens of Belle Meade played with Claudie Pollman and Jennifer King in their band called “Spur of the Moment.” Their live music and song encouraged the steady pace of the volunteers. A bong was rung every time a milestone was reached.
Jeff Gonder of the Rise Against Hunger organization in Raleigh helped at the event as well as the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Churches and youth groups also participated in the event from the Chapel in the Pines, Seven Lakes Baptist Church, West End United Methodist Church, Grace Church in Seven Lakes, and West End Presbyterian.
Holton Easter, in charge of finances for the event, was happy with the turnout.
“There are a lot of friends and neighbors [here] who don’t belong to churches,” he explained. “It’s a worthwhile thing to do.”
The meals were taken back to the Rise Against Hunger headquarters in Raleigh. They will be stored there until needed. These particular packages may be sent to Saint Andre in Haiti.
West End Presbyterian has been hosting this event for the past five years. With the community’s help, they have packaged a total of more than 282,000 meals.
For more information about Rise Against Hunger, visit www.riseagainsthunger.org.
