'A testament to Hanover': Local nonprofit packs over 200,000 meals for those in need

Hundreds of volunteers showed up last weekend to help local nonprofit Hanover Against Hunger pack more than 200,000 meals for those in need.

Through multiple shifts in St. Matthew's Lutheran Church on Saturday and Sunday, over 600 volunteers worked to pack an entire shipping container full of the packaged meals, all part of Hanover Against Hunger' sixth-biennial meal packing event.

"It's a testament to what Hanover is all about," said Lisa Smith, the secretary for Hanover Against hunger.

It was no small feat for the nonprofit. To date, before this weekend's events, the nonprofit had assembled over 300,000 meals and raised over $90,000. This weekend, with the packing of over 200,000 meals, almost doubled that total.

The supplies for each meal, which consists of rice, proteins and vegetables packaged into a bag, costs the nonprofit 38 cents a piece. To meet this year's goal, Hanover Against Hunger had to raise over $76,200.

On Friday, they were about $990 short of that goal, Smith said. After the organization posted on Facebook about the amount needed to reach that goal, the group raised that $990 in about 30 minutes, Smith said.

"It's just unbelievable, it's amazing," said Smith.

The shipping container, which was stuffed with over 200,000 meals, departed from St. Matthew's Lutheran Church Monday morning to head to the port of Baltimore, where it will depart on a ship bound for the Philippines to assist with humanitarian aid in the country, said Smith.

The meal-packing event first started at St. Matthew's in 2012, when a young Dylan West, son of the event's organizer, Doug West, came home from a mission trip and wanted to find a way to help with humanitarian aid to countries in need.

That kicked off the first of the meal-packing events in Hanover, which were organized with Rise Against Hunger, an international non-profit supporting humanitarian aid. Rise Against Hunger coordinates the supplies and distribution of the meals that are packaged by the event.

Since 2012, the event has grown significantly, growing from a few dozen volunteers at the event, to this year's 600 volunteers.

"It started off on a much smaller scale," said Dylan West, who now resides in Baltimore but still comes to help out at the events.

In the first year, they packed 40,000 meals over the course of a day. Now, the group packed 200,000 meals over the course of two days.

While it was originally held as an event by St. Matthew's, in 2022 organizers incorporated the organization as its own nonprofit, Hanover Against Hunger, to help organize the volunteers and bring together the many different groups that take part.

"It's really more of a Hanover event now," said West.

Becoming a 501(c)(3) also meant that local businesses had an easier time donating directly to the cause, Smith said.

Numerous local organizations helped with the effort leading up to the event, including the Hanover Area Arts Guild and the Sign of the Horse Bierhaus downtown, both of which partnered with Hanover Against Hunger.

On the two days of the events, volunteers ranging from as young as three years old to as old as 93 years old took part, dancing to music as they worked to pack meals. As volunteers worked, a gong was struck to mark another 2,000 meals packed.

Previously reported: Hanover Against Hunger partners with local businesses, seeks volunteers

"It's more fun than it is work," West said, "and there's a job for everyone."

For West, after over 10 years of taking part in the event, the motivation was still the same: helping others.

"Anytime you can really give back and pour into other people," West said, "it leaves you with a lot of joy."

"You walk away feeling like you've done something special," he said.

Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Contact him at hjones@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Hanover Against Hunger packs over 200,000 meals for humanitarian aid