This (Tuesday) morning marks the start of the 16th annual effort to package millions of meals to help feed the hungry in Iowa, across the U-S, and in countries around the globe. Meals from the Heartland launches the massive mission with today’s corporate contest, where Hy-Vee spokeswoman Nola Aigner (EYE-gner) Davis says dozens of volunteers will be pitching in to assemble the meals in plastic bags, which are then packed into cardboard boxes.

That event, the One Step Challenge, is being held at the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex in West Des Moines. The larger “Hunger Fight” event runs tomorrow (Wednesday) through Saturday as many thousands of volunteers will be packaging meals at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines. The goal is to produce and package four-million meals by the end of the day on Saturday.

There are two basic meals that will be assembled, a Hearty Pack, with rice, soy protein, vitamins, minerals and dried vegetables; and a Taco Mac, which contains enriched pasta, soy flour, and vitamin- and mineral-fortified cheese mix.

Individual and group registrations are being welcomed for shifts tomorrow through Saturday. Hairnets and gloves will be provided. Since 2008, Meals from the Heartland has provided more than 183-million meals to the hungry in Iowa, across the U.S., and around the world.
www.mealsfromtheheartland.org