Students pack 50,000 meals to fight world hunger

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Students at Cape Fear Academy were very busy Tuesday afternoon outside of the classroom.

They were packing tens of thousands of meals through a partnership with Stop Hunger Now.

Tuesday was Community Service Day at the school. Cape Fear Academy is celebrating 50 years so the school is set to donate 50,000 bags with hopes to make a difference.

Students from pre-k to seniors worked together to get the job done.

Matt Anlyan with Stop Hunger Now says every bag made is important.

“We think it’s one of the most important causes of our time yet we also think it’s one of the most solvable crisis that we face,” Anlyan said.

Scoops of dehydrated veggies and protein along with rice were all dropped in a bag, then taken to a packing station and boxed.

“It’s just an awesome way to get a lot of people involved and help out a community you don’t even know, and it’s awesome too at Cape Fear we are getting to work with children pre-k up to 12th grade and have everyone come together and do a good thing,” senior Wilker Vallentine said.

After packing, all the food will be brought back to the distribution center in Raleigh then sent to developing countries.

“It’s a really important thing for the students to do especially around this time, around Thanksgiving, because we all need to give back to the less fortunate,” Anlyan said.

Anlyan says the world produces over 4.3 pounds of food for every person but the problem is accessing it, so this is just one way local students are hoping to change that.

The students packed up more than 230 boxes which equals over 7,500 pounds of dehydrated food.