Volunteers packaged meals at the St Joseph Church on Thursday evening that will be sent to Ukraine.
Volunteers from the Take Away Hunger organization packed up 12,000 meals inside of the church's school gym.
The organization is a is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that helps communities package food for locations in need:
- Churches
- Schools
- Businesses
- Organizations
Over the last 14 years, Take Away Hunger has packaged over 4 million meals for local food banks and disaster zones.
In a media statement sent out on Thursday, organization officials shared their thoughts about packaging meals for Ukraine.
We're excited because this will be our first opportunity to package food for Ukraine since the war began," said Joe O'Leary, Director of Take Away Hunger.
Iowa's News Now spoke with Robyn Ginther, Chairwoman of the Linn-Mar Project, at the packaging event.
It is our responsibility to take care of the people of this world, all of the hungry people," said Ginther. "We just need to reach out, a little bit makes a big difference when people come together. I'm very joyful at the moment, I've been very happy to see how our church pulled together, how we were able to do this.
Ginther said they've raised so much money, they need to have another one of these events.
The organization will announce a date for their second packaging event on social media once a decision is made.
Take Away Hunger officials are looking for volunteers to help with their next event.
The meals will be sent to Ukraine once all of the meals are packaged.
Residents interested in volunteering are encouraged to contact O'Leary by calling (319) 491-6660 or by emailing info@TakeAwayHungerCR.com.