Tyler DukesScience & Tech Editor
Most people would think twice about accepting eight buckets of coins that accumulated up to three months of sediment and calcification at the bottom of a mall fountain.
But when Triangle Town Center offered to donate the coins — which often add up to more than $3,000 when they’re emptied — to Stop Hunger Now, Chief Executive Officer Rod Brooks didn’t hesitate.
To him, it was just another donation, albeit with a few added complications.
“We’re in the process of figuring out how to clean them,” he said with a laugh. “We’re thinking of renting a cement mixer.”
The donation was one portion of the $60,000 the organization raised with help from the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service to pay for the 2007 Service N.C. State event.
About 1,500 volunteers, mostly composed of students, will converge on Carmichael Gym throughout the day Saturday to package fortified rice-soy meals for the hungry.
According to Mike Giancola, director of CSLEPS, the goal is to package 300,000 meals by the end of the day. Since each package serves six, volunteers must prepare 50,000 bags of food.
Stop Hunger Now had orgininally planned to ship the packaged food to Haiti and Senegal. Brooks said a “glitch on the receiving end” meant the organization would be charged heavy duty fees to ship the food to the African nation. Although the organization will still send packages to Haiti, Brooks said he received confirmation Thursday that packages will also be sent to the areas of Peru effected by the magnitude 8 earthquake that struck the country’s southern coast Aug. 15.
That’s something Nzingha Reel, senior in psychology and criminology, said she is excited about.
A participant in last year’s Service N.C. State, Reel returned from a mission trip in Peru three days before the earthquake hit. She said she witnessed the poverty there even before disaster struck.
“You could definitely tell the difference between the haves and the have-nots,” Reel said. “We don’t realize how blessed we are in America.”
Prepared in boiling water and made up of ingredients like rice, soy flour and dried vegetables, Brooks said the food isn’t necessarily meant to be a full meal. He did say, however, that he’s “had it for lunch more often than you know.”
Giancola pointed out the food could be adapted to any location on the globe.
“It’s culturally unspecific,” he said. “It’s bland with the idea to be doctored up with local food.”
Although Reel said she didn’t taste it last year, she said the mixture is “just right for where it’s going.”
What the meal can provide by itself, Brooks said, are nutrients like vitamin A often lacking in the diets of the malnourished.
“When an individual is suffering from hunger and malnutrition, lack of micronutrients in their diet is the biggest issue,” Brooks said. “When we lack vitamin A, our immune systems are defeated.”
Giancola said Stop Hunger Now distributes the meals through school-lunch programs, which can often have a twofold effect.
“For a lot of developing countries, parents can’t afford to send their kids to school,” Giancola said. “If you can get a free lunch at school, mom and dad are more likely to send them.”
Giancola said he was confident volunteers’ work would be put to good use.
“Some people say we’re trying to put a Band-Aid on a problem,” he said. “If you’re hungry today, that is the problem.”
Each meal in the package costs 20 cents, and since each bag contains six servings, $1.20 can provide a meal for a whole family. Here’s a look at what you can buy around campus for $1.20 or less.
Stop Hunger NowFortified Rice-Soy MealPrice: $1.20Servings: 6Calories per serving: 220
C-StoreNature Valley Fruit & Nut BarPrice: Two for $1.10Servings: 2Calories per serving: 140
Top Ramen Beef-Flavored NoodlesPrice: Three for $1.05Servings: 6Calories per serving: 19
Del Monte Fruit CocktailPrice: $1.19Servings: 2Calories per serving: 100
Armour Barbecue-Flavored SausagePrice: $1.19Servings: 2.5Calories per serving: 150
Compiled by Tyler Dukes
Volunteers at Service N.C. State will send 150,000 meals to each of two areas.
PeruEarthquake-effected regionLanguage: Spanish, QuechuaPopulation: 28.7 millionGDP: $186.6 billionCapital: LimaDistance from Raleigh: 3,311 miles
HaitiCaribbean island of HispaniolaLanguage: French, CreolePopulation: 8.7 millionGDP: $14.79 billionCapital: Port-au-PrinceDistance from Raleigh: 1,252 miles
SOURCE: Stop Hunger Now, CIA World Factbook, geobytes.com
60,000 Amount of money, in dollars, donated for materials
1,500 Number of volunteer slots open to prepare meals
175 Approximate number of faculty, staff and commmunity partners participating in the event
3 Number of shifts volunteers will work Saturday
9 Number of hours volunteers will work to prepare meals
50,000 Number of bags of food organizers hope to prepare
6 Number of meals contained in each bag
300,000 Number of meals organizers hope to prepare
5 Shelf life, in years, for each bag of food
SOURCE: CSLEPS
Service N.C. State organizers hope to almost double their packaging quota from last year’s event, an effort that will require more than twice the amount of volunteers.
2006Volunteers: 650Bags packaged: 25,632Meals: 153,792Destination: Kenya
2007 (projected)Volunteers: 1,500Bags packaged: 50,000Meals: 300,000Destination: Haiti, Peru
SOURCE: CSLEPS, Stop Hunger Now
Although Service N.C. State is overbooked, there are other ways to help.
– Make a donation to Stop Hunger Now
– Buy a raffle ticket Saturday for a Harley Davidson motorcyle to benefit the program
– Purchase promotional gear
– Set up a packaging event for your organization by visiting stophungernow.org
– Inquire about internships through the organization’s Web site
SOURCE: CSLEPS
