The Best Boxes You'll Ever Pack - Blessed Homeschool

Love it? Share it!

In my last post of this series, I talked about how you and your kids can make a difference in the lives of animals by volunteering at your local shelter. Teaching our kids to give back and serve others is a valuable opportunity we have in our homeschools. In this post, we’ll talk about how you can participate in a food packing event, and other ways to help those in need of food in your community and all over the world.

Hunger is a Huge Problem

The United Nations report on hunger estimated that over 800 million people were suffering from hunger and undernourishment worldwide in 2018. The Global Impact Hunger Fund shares that every 10 seconds, a child dies from hunger-related causes.

The problem isn’t that there isn’t enough food – but it’s regularly getting food to people who need it. In the U.S. alone there are millions of children who don’t consistently know where their next meal is coming from.

A food packing event can be a great way to get involved to help those in need of nutritious meals. At these events, your kids get to be hands-on in the care of others while packing boxes of meals.

Kids Against Hunger Food Packing Event

I first found out about the organization Kids Against Hunger from a friend. We were looking for ways to get our kids involved in the community, and thought the event sounded like a great opportunity.

Kids Against Hunger states on their website that their goal is to help eradicate world hunger. They do this by means of volunteers who pack nutritious meals at various locations, then they distribute the meals worldwide to starving families. The organization has provided millions of meals since it began, and many more can be sent out with your help.

We have participated in three events so far, and they have all been a wonderful experience. They are typically held in large rooms, and you have multiple volunteers around one table, each doing their own job to pack the meal bag. One person starts by holding the bag, then a few other people add the rice, vitamins, and other ingredients, and finally the last people in the assembly line weigh and seal the bags (the weighing job was even a nice little math component for my son!).

There is typically a little competitive nature that gets going between the tables, to see who can pack the most boxes. On average, at a food packing event with 50 volunteers, more than 10,000 meals can be packed per hour if you keep things moving – wow!

I just love how this is an event my kids can be involved in and have fun doing (my twin daughters were only four years old when we attended our first Kids Against Hunger event). You can host a Kids Against Hunger Packing Event in your own community, or you can find an event being held near you by checking here.

More Food Packing Event Options

If you are not able to find a Kids Against Hunger Event near you, there are a few other similar organizations you can check out.

Meals of Hope is a great organization that helps you host your own food packing event with your church, homeschool co-op, or community.
Rise Against Hunger is another wonderful option. They’ll send a hunger educator to help you organize an event, which can be done in many regions across the U.S.

food packing event, food pantry volunteer

Volunteer at Your Local Food Bank or Food Pantry

Your family can get involved and help the hungry by volunteering at your local foodbank or food pantry.

A food bank is a place that stores donated food that will eventually be distributed to local food programs (like food pantries). A food pantry, then, is a place where hungry families can come to get the food they need.

Volunteers are often needed to sort and pack boxes of food, assist in handing out food, or deliver meals. Make sure to check with your local foodbank to see what area they need help in the most.

Find Food Programs Near You

Feeding America has a big network of foodbanks across America that could always use volunteers. Find your local Feeding America foodbank here, or check out FoodPantries.org to search for food pantries by state.

Other Charities that Help Fight Hunger

There are a few other great ways that your family can help fight hunger outside of volunteering locally.

You can donate money to an organization like Action Against Hunger, who takes action against the hunger problem across the globe. You can easily donate online, or host a bake sale or similar event to raise money for the cause.
Grow food to donate to Ample Harvest. They realized that much food goes to waste each year simply because people grow too much (guilty – we had sooo many tomatoes this year in our garden). Their aim is to educate people about the benefit of donating excess food to local pantries.
Feed My Starving Children has multiple opportunities to give, including hosting a food packing event or other fundraising options.
Bread For the World encourages families to come together in prayer for the problem of world hunger. You can sign up to commit to pray on their website and receive prayer reminders and ideas in your inbox.
Send an animal to a family in need through Heifer International.
Volunteer to deliver a meal to a homebound senior through Meals on Wheels.
Sponsor a child with a gift of $38 a month through Food for the Hungry to provide food and clean water to a child in need.

Join the Fight Against Hunger

Volunteering at food packing events or at your local foodbank can be a great hands-on way for your family to give back to your community. There are so many people who are in need of nutritious food, and teaching your kids about this problem and how to help can truly make a difference.

Don’t Miss the 12 Days of Serving Others Series

This post is part of the series “12 Days of Serving Others”. In this series, you’ll find great tips and ideas on how you can incorporate service and volunteering into your homeschool all year.

I’ll link the rest of the series posts here to make it easy to navigate!

Comment below and let me know – have you volunteered at a food packing event before, or at your local food pantry? What other valuable experiences have you had in giving to those in need of food?

This post is also part of the 12 Days of Homeschooling Fun Through the Holidays Series. Click here to check out the other amazing bloggers who are a part of this, and to enter the giveaway!

The Best Boxes You’ll Ever Pack