FFA members at North Montgomery High School near Linden, Ind., don’t just talk about feeding the hungry. Since 2013, they’ve participated in the fight against hunger by preparing and packing dry meals in an annual event held in the high school cafeteria.

“It started when some of our kids helped pack meals for hungry people in an event held at the National FFA Convention in Louisville in 2012,” explains Nancy Bell, North Montgomery FFA advisor. “Our FFA members decided they wanted to hold our own event to pack meals.

“The first one was in the spring of 2013. We’ve been doing it ever since. We’ve had feedback that some of the meals we’ve packed have made it into many foreign countries.”

Bell and the North Montgomery FFA’ers work through Kids Against Hunger, a nonprofit based in Waynetown, Ind., to get supplies and make sure the food gets to a destination where people need it. Allison Delp, director of Kids Against Hunger at Waynetown since 2008, says the project began as an outreach of the Waynetown Christian Church.

North Montgomery FFA held its seventh annual food-packing event this April, Delp notes. The FFA chapter packed 21,000 meals, filling 100 boxes. This year’s food went to feed people in South Dakota devastated by late winter and early spring snows and flooding. Where the food goes depends on where the need is, Delp says. She coordinates with another organization to ship the food to its intended destination. Including the first event in 2013, North Montgomery FFA has packed 98,712 meals for people who needed food.

Community affair

Bell and her FFA members are responsible for raising money for the food they pack at their event. She relies on key local sponsors. This year, seven businesses acted as sponsors for the event. Besides donating money, some also sent employees to help FFA members and other school volunteers pack food.

The meals consist of four dry ingredients, Bell says. They are rice, soy protein, a nutrition component packed with vitamins and minerals, and dehydrated vegetables.

The night begins with large sacks of the various ingredients and empty boxes. It concludes with empty ingredient sacks and boxes filled with meals ready to be shipped, Bell says.

Because all the food ingredients which the recipient needs to cook a meal are dry, the packed meals have a long shelf life if they’re stored properly. They can be stored, cooked and consumed many months after the packing event.

Besides the support of sponsors, Bell notes that a National FFA Living to Serve grant has also made it possible for them to continue to hold this annual event.

To see photos of the recent food-packing event, check out the slideshow below.