Meals from the Heartland
Some 300 volunteers at the Perry Lutheran Homes started
The assembly-line packaging began at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and the goal of 100,000 meals packed in four years will easily be reached by the time the Meals from the Heartland program ends at 4 p.m.
The Perry program packaged 22,000 meals in 2016 and another 22,000 in 2017, with a jump to 30,000 last year.
About 10 percent of the nonprofit organization’s packaged meals feed undernourished people right here in central Iowa, with the rest going to feed the needy in countries such as Haiti, Ghana and South Africa, a Meals from the Heartland spokesperson said.
“We are very grateful for the support the community has shown this project,” said Dr. Randy McCaulley, the event’s lead organizer.
Individual volunteers from the community and from many Perry-area civic and religious groups and private businesses participated in the production process along with a number of residents of the Perry Lutheran Homes.
Among the community donors supporting the 2019 event were Fareway, Hy-Vee, Great Western Bank, Raccoon Valley Bank, Van Wall, Perry Kiwanis Club, Perry Optimist Club, Perry Rotary Club, Lions Club, Thrivent Financial, Christ Lutheran Church in Bouton, Zion Lutheran Church in Ogden, Perry’s St. Patrick Catholic Church and First United Methodist Church and many individuals. Employees of Perry Lutheran Homes and Acorns and Oaks Christian Daycare also raised $1,400 among themselves.
