(Photo by Shelley Hanson) Thomas George, 6, rings the gong held by Rise Against Hunger event manager David Maurer during the March 12 food packaging event in Glen Dale.

Thousands of meals packaged by New Martinsville Rotary Club volunteers and others will soon help to fill the hungry bellies of children and families in needy countries around the world.

Local Rotary Clubs of New Martinsville, Moundsville and Wheeling came together March 15 at St. Jude Church Hall in Glen Dale to participate in their sixth annual Rise Against Hunger event.

Larry Blalock, a New Martinsville Rotary Club member and planning committee member, said by the end of the three-hour event about 30,000 meals will be packaged.

“The meals will leave here and go to Pittsburgh. They will be warehoused and a couple months down the road they will be joined with meals from other such events and they will go to a destination. Last year our 30,000 meals went to the Philippines,” he said.

Blalock said the group will discover at a later date where their meals were shipped to this year. He noted since the clubs began participating in Rise Against Hunger six years ago they have packaged more than 100,000 meals.

“We’re really proud of that,” he said. “There is rice, soy, dried vegetables and there is a vitamin component that goes with it. Each packet contains four meals and all you need is boiling water to make those meals.”

The meals provide life-saving sustenance for those in need.

“It’s a war against hunger is what it is. Rise Against Hunger … set a goal 10 years ago of ending world poverty by 2035. It’s a lofty goal and it probably won’t be met, but their efforts will continue,” Blalock said.

He noted Rise Against Hunger depends on organizations and people unaffiliated with countries’ governments to make sure the food gets to the people in need. Locally, more than 100 people from the community and the rotary clubs showed up to package the grains.

“It seems like once someone comes and participates in this event, they have so much fun that they want to come back the next year,” he said. “So we have a lot of repeat volunteers.”

Grains from large bags are poured into large containers and then carefully measured out and poured into smaller bags. The bags are then sealed and labeled. Volunteers wear gloves and hairnets to keep the food clean.

Moundsville Rotary Club member Jennifer George said the countries given the meals typically are dealing with a drought or some other natural disaster. She noted the meals are also used to feed children at schools in the countries as well.

Although the packaging event is laborious, it is done in a fun atmosphere. Music is played and every time 2,000 meals are packaged someone gets to ring a large gong.

“It’s very fast-paced and it’s a ton of fun,” she said. “There’s jobs for any age. We have jobs where people have to carry 50-pound bags and there’s jobs where people have to put stickers on. … Our youngest volunteer is 6 years old.”

In addition to St. Jude Church Hall and rotary clubs, sponsors for the event included Fort Henry Capital, Expand Energy, Altmeyer Funeral Home, Steptoe-Johnson, Westlake, Jackson Kelly, Rabbi Josh Lief, Swisher, Southwestern Energy, Expand, Christ United Methodist Church, Blalock Mediation Services, Edward Jones and Daniel Young and Riesbeck’s.

For more information on Rise Against Hunger, visit https://www.riseagainsthunger.org/.