What do nine hours in Hanover Gym, over a month of fundraising, hundreds of student and community volunteers, and 106,000 meals packaged for the hungry have in common? All were part of the third annual meal-packaging event for Raleigh-based international hunger relief agency, sponsored by the Center for Leadership Education and Service (CLES) Nov. 14.

The meal-packaging event consisted of volunteers packaging vitamins, vegetables, soy and rice and then sealing the bags to be placed in boxes that will be transported to countries in need. UNC-Wilmington’s packaging event is supporting Haiti, according to CLES director Dr. Donna Crowe.

“I’m really excited that so many volunteers showed up on a Saturday to help us package UNC-Wilmington’s 106,000 meals,” said sophomore CLES Fellow Rachael Beatty. “Everyone I worked with was excited and ready to help hundreds of people they don’t know.”

Volunteers worked to music provided by Hawkstream Radio, cheering every time the buzzer went off to indicate that 5,000 meals had been packaged.

“I thought it was an awesome, rewarding experience,” said junior Jordan Powers, who volunteered during the third shift of the day. “It feels good to be able to give to those less fortunate and have a fun time doing it.”

CLES is sponsoring events this week as a part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, including a faculty clothing drive, a canned good collection and an interactive hunger banquet in which participants will learn about poverty. For more information on these events, visit www.uncw.edu/cles.