Big-hearted Brooklynites needed to feed hungry children on Saturday

March 9, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

This volunteer knows what researchers have discovered about volunteerism: helping others has long-term health benefits. Photos by Mark Dana, Project Outreach

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As soon as Saturday, March 11, Brooklynites who wish to help those less fortunate than themselves can spend an enlightening hour as volunteers to make a huge difference in lives of thousands of homeless children.

Half a million people in Brooklyn don’t always know when their next meal will be. Many of them are children. On days without school breakfast and lunch, they can’t be certain when they’ll be able to eat.

Food banks have experienced an explosion of need in the past few years, from families as well as single adults and seniors. The two Rotary Clubs in Brooklyn have teamed up with Project Outreach, an organization that has helped volunteers package over 260 million meals in the past 10 years.

The Rotary End Hunger Event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, who have donated the use of their facility to assist in this project.

Volunteers will be packaging nutritionally complete meals, each of which costs about 25 cents. Each serving is made up of dry ingredients like beans and rice, and macaroni and cheese.

Assembly lines of 10 people can pump out 2,000 meals per hour. The goal of Rotary’s event is to package and deliver 20,000 meals to local food pantries and homeless shelters in three hours.

Around 33,000 Rotary Clubs exist in over 200 countries around the globe. They are made up of business professionals for the purpose of networking and doing charitable works in their communities and around the world. The Brooklyn Bridge Rotary Club meets at Marco Polo Ristorante in Carroll Gardens, and the Verrazano Rotary Club meets at Gargulio’s in Coney Island.

For more information, visit outreachprogram.org/brooklyn-bridge-verrazano-rotary-meal-packaging-event/.