A gong sounded and a cheer went up every time volunteers packaged 5,000 meals. Plastic bags filled with rice, protein and dehydrated vegetables were packed into cardboard boxes and the boxes were loaded into a shipping container bound for Haiti.
More than 1,000 volunteers spent their Saturday working shoulder-to-shoulder in the meal-prep assembly line that had been set up in the family life building at Conover's First United Methodist Church.
The gong sounded often as they approached their goal of 250,000 meals for the children in schools and orphanages in Haiti.
The event was one of seven organized by area Rotary Clubs working to package and ship 1 million meals to Haiti to feed children in need following the January 12 earthquake.
The Rotary clubs partnered with Stop Hunger Now to ship the bulk foods to the Conover church Friday so the volunteers could combine the ingredients and package them in plastic bags with nutritional labels.
Each bag contains six meals. Each meal costs about 25 cents, said Carol King the District Governor of Rotary District 7670.
They contain four ingredients: dehydrated protein flakes, which are similar to unflavored Bac-Os, rice, dried vegetables and a vitamin and mineral supplement specifically designed for malnourished people, King said.
Since the earthquake, desperate mothers have been feeding their children mud mixed with oil and shaped like cookies said Newton-Conover Rotary Club President Rev. Tony Bunton.
He's eager to provide those children with healthy, nutritious foods.
The clubs that compose Rotary District 7670 have had a long-standing relationship with Haitian rotary clubs in the Port-Au-Prince area, King said.
The food will be sent to Cité Soleil, a shantytown on the outskirts of Port-Au-Prince and one of the areas of the country where the need is greatest.
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