Indianapolis joins program to ease hunger around the globe

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - After more than a decade of feeding hungry families around the world, Stop Hunger Now - a food-packing and distribution program - is expanding its global reach by coming to Indianapolis.

The North Carolina-based nonprofit is providing a way for local residents to get involved in its effort to provide millions of nutritious meals to people in need.

More than 1.2 million meals are expected to be packed and shipped from Indianapolis in 2015, said D. Allen Renquist II, chief programs officer for Stop Hunger Now.

The nonprofit now has 19 U.S. offices and five others internationally.

"We're not trying to feed people," Renquist told The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/1CPlzoX ). "We are trying to end hunger."

Merchandise Warehouse, 1414 S. West St., is partnering with the nonprofit to provide Stop Hunger Now with warehouse and office space.

The Near-Southside company also sponsored Saturday's official kickoff of the local arm of Stop Hunger Now with a packing event at Lifepoint Church in Greenwood, where 450 volunteers showed up to package 100,008 meals.

"I just want to teach my kids how blessed we are," volunteer Steve Beach said, as his sons and wife, Laurie, poured food into a Stop Hunger Now bag. "We just want to help them realize that the world is bigger than themselves."

Dehydrated meals of rice, soy, vegetables and 23 vitamins and minerals are packed by volunteers into a plastic meal bag before they are boxed and shipped.

Stop Hunger Now shipped 42 million meals to 27 countries in 2013. Within the past six months, about 500,000 meals have been packed in Indianapolis and surrounding communities.

It takes a minimum of 50 volunteers to put on a food-packing event coordinated by Stop Hunger Now, Renquist said.

Stop Hunger Now says its events help provide rewarding experiences for volunteers who want to provide food to the developing world. Companies, churches, schools and civic groups who want to take part must first raise money to pay for the food packed at each event.

More than 870 million people around the world don't have enough food to eat, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported in 2012. More than 25,000 people die each day from hunger-related illnesses, it said.

Tim Siddiq, president and CEO of Merchandise Warehouse, decided to partner with Stop Hunger Now after his company's vice president, Scott Whiting, suggested getting on board.

Siddiq said growing up in Afghanistan until the age of 9, when his family moved to the U.S., helped him realize the great need for anti-hunger programs.

"Merchandise Warehouse has stored food for more than 60 years," Siddiq said in a statement, "so it's our pleasure to support the mission of Stop Hunger Now to end hunger worldwide in our lifetime."

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com