Iowa State Block and Bridle Club Joins the Fight Against World Hunger

by Alexandra Marek, ISU Block and Bridle Club

One in five children in the United States are food insecure, according to nokidhungry.com.  With September being National Hunger Action month, the largest club on Iowa State University’s campus decided to take action.

 Iowa State University’s Block and Bridle Club appointed a philanthropy committee in February in hopes of bettering the Ames community.  On September 30, 2014, not only did they better their community, but also the world.  Lexi Marek and Shelby Patten, the philanthropy co-chairs, teamed up with “Meals from the Heartland” out of Des Moines, Iowa to organize a campus wide Hunger Fight.  The ISU Block and Bridle Club scheduled this event during the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Week on campus and had the support of allied industry companies, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Department of Animal Science.

Eight assembly lines were lined with students and staff for five hours last Tuesday.  The line started with adding a package of vitamins and a scoop of vegetables to a small, plastic bag.  Then a cup of rice and a cup of soy protein was added, the bag was weighed and then sealed and packed in a box.  Everything that goes into the meals, from the vegetables to the bags and boxes, comes from businesses in the Midwest.  The meals can be stored for up to two years and will most likely end up in South Africa, Ghana, Haiti, or the Philippines. 

Thanks to the various sponsors and over 375 volunteers, 60,264 meals were packaged for people in need.

 With a goal of 40,000 meals, everyone was shocked and excited when the final count was 60,264 meals.  This proves that with a little work and a lot of support, one person can make a big difference.

For more information about Meals from the Heartland visit www.mealsfromtheheartland.com.