Photos by Camas Frank ~
The numbers are in. On Feb. 6 local Rotary Club members, including a cast of San Luis Obispo’s most recognizable civic leaders joined 125 volunteers of all ages to package 16,084 meals for the Stop Hunger Now humanitarian relief organization.
Forty-two members of the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo teamed up with the NGO, along with members from other clubs, Cal Poly, high school and middle school volunteer organizations and anyone else that was willing to lend their labor after a crash course in food prep safety and donning a lot of blue hairnets.
A BBQ lunch was served for the volunteers at the PG&E Training Facility in Avila Beach, but the meal packs they prepared for shipping are vegan, with a combination of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and, “a flavoring mix that includes 23 essential vitamins and minerals.”
Participating organizations can buy the materials for the packs at $0.29 each and host events to get them put together and ready for shipment to disaster relief centers, school feeding programs, and orphanages after packing the food has a shelf-life of two years.
Christopher Romero, the northern California program manager for Stop Hunger Now noted that 90 percent of the aid is sent over seas though partner organizations which run on the ground assistance in education and other methods where nutritional aid is an ancillary to their work. In short added, Parker Emerson with the Shelter Box program, aid is no longer dolled out in 50 pound bags thrown out of a moving truck. While the Shelter Box program provides tools, cooking equipment and custom tents for families to sustain themselves, the food aide is also being targeted with more care and respect than in years past.
In addition to Rotary Clubs businesses, schools, and church groups can participate through: www.stophungernow.org.
-Camas Frank
