One Million Meals event is in need of volunteer food packers
Kids Against Hunger Canada’s 8th annual One Million Meals Peterborough fundraiser and food packing event will take place on April 6 at Rhema Christian School, as the organization gets increasingly closer to their goal.
Since 2016, KAHC volunteers have packed 824,904 meals, explained Shirley Dawe, in charge of the organization’s marketing and communications. Nearly 20 per cent of the meals go to people in the local area, with another 28 per cent going to Canadian First Nations, and the remaining 52 per cent going overseas to places like Grande Goave in Haiti.
“It’s an event that everybody really enjoys. It’s a chance to inspire the people of our city to make a positive impact in the lives of others,” she said. “They not only contribute to a united cause, but they really enjoy a fun and hands-on experience that promotes togetherness in the community.”
The goal this year is pack 50,000 meals, noted Dawe. Prior to the pandemic, KAHC was able to pack more than 100,000 meals annually, she added.
“We’re hoping to pack another 50,000 this year, but it depends on volunteers,” she said. “Pre-COVID, we would have like 500 volunteers and/or packers. This year we expect about 200 packers to come out.”
There will be two 75-minute packing shifts beginning at 10:30 and 12:30 that volunteers can sign up for, explained Dawe.
Volunteers must fundraise or donate at least $65 prior to the event, she added.
“This mode of raising the money is what we call peer-to-peer. So, people that register will get their own fundraising page, and they can share it with family and friends,” she said. “So, the burden of coming up and supporting the cost of the food is shared outside the circle of the packers themselves.”
Once the goal is accomplished, KAHC may set a new one of two million, explained Dawe, though the organization would really like to focus on starting the fundraiser in other cities across Canada.
“We want to promote this in every major city in Canada, that each is doing an annual event trying to pack one million meals,” she said. “Or for example, cities like Toronto might want to set it at five million or something like that. Once we have reached that milestone, we have visions of expanding it elsewhere.”
To learn more about 2024’s One Million Meals fundraiser and how to volunteer visit onemillionmealspeterborough.com/register. The organization is also looking for additional business sponsorships, who can pledge at Become A Sponsor — One Million Meals Peterborough.
“We are impacting lives one meal at a time,” she said. “And we need people to do that with us.”