Burke Sunrise Rotary - STOP HUNGER NOW

-The Rotary clubs of Burke County (Morganton, Burke-Sunrise, & Valdese) spearheaded an event on May 3rd, 2008 to package over

-They were packaged by us and then shipped globally to other Rotarians to be distributed

MORGANTON - Dozens of volunteers capped with hair nets hurriedly filled bags with dehydrated food, followed by a banging of a gong every minute and a half. The orderly chaos at the Collett Street Recreation Center on Saturday was for a good cause: to help reduce world hunger. The Burke Sunrise, Morganton and Valdese Rotary clubs joined together to bring Operation Sharehouse from Stop Hunger Now to Morganton.

Rotarians began taking action in September, when they decided to engage in an international project, Denny Camp, the coordinator of the event said. Their goal was to package 100,000 meals, which would be sent to Haiti, but they surpassed that goal. Camp emphasized that the challenge was to feed the hungry, not to meet a numeric goal.

The group planned to bag 125,000 meals on Saturday. The gong sounded for every 1,000 meals packed, and the room was creating that many in approximately a minute and a half. The Rotarians raised $25,000 through contributions from the Rostan Family Foundation, local churches and the Interact clubs at Freedom High and Patton High schools.

Operation Sharehouse's goal is to provide dehydrated meals for use around the world, Allen Renquist. Rotarians and volunteers gathered to pack the meals using Stop Hunger Now's assembly method. Working in groups of five, one person was responsible for holding a funnel, while the other four poured in one scoop of each ingredient.

Renquist explained that one ingredient, the chicken flavored vitamin supplement, was specially designed for malnourished people. The other three ingredients included soy flour, dehydrated vegetables and rice.

Children were present and acted as runners, taking the filled bags to tables where the bags were weighed and sealed. Renquist said each bag must weigh 390 to 400 grams.

Each bag feeds six, and the cost to produce a bag is $1.20, resulting in a 20 cent meal, Renquist said.

Stop Hunger Now transports the food items from Raleigh to various locations throughout the state, where volunteers assemble the bags. The money that local organizations raise cover the costs of the meals, resulting in, "a program that is self sustainable," Renquist explained. The magnitude of the Burke County Rotary clubs??(tm) endeavor was, "unbelievable for an area this size," Renquist said. Stop Hunger Now designates 90% of the packaged food to international relief, and the remaining 10% are kept in case of disasters, Renquist stated. Last year, the organization packaged 3.4 million meals, he added.

Bruce Bingham, the Rotary assistant governor for district 7670, said the community turn out was phenomenal. Bingham said this is the first time he's seen the community respond with such enthusiasm and support. Bingham suggested the event could become an annual endeavor for the three clubs. Carol King, the governor nominee, said she hopes the entire district can make this a million meal event. District 7670 spans 22 counties from Catawba to Cherokee with 52 clubs and 2,800 members.