What started in Raleigh more than 13 years ago and moved across the globe has returned once again to North Carolina. Stop Hunger Now, an international relief organization, made its annual visit to Elon University in partnership with the Kernodle Center for Service Learning to package 55,000 meals for children and their families.

Nearly 150 student and alumni volunteers came to East Gym Oct. 20 to package meals for shipment, likely to a developing country.

The event’s co-coordinator sophomore Samantha Murray said the event is about more than providing to thousands of starving people.

“We try to incorporate reflection into all of our service events,” she said. “The Kernodle Center is not biased, religiously or in any other way, but we still want people to be able to think about what they’re doing and what it means to them specifically. For a short, one

time event, it’s still good to think about why you’re doing it.”

Volunteers were encouraged to sign a banner declaring why they care about hunger. For the first time, they were also able to write their feelings on a white board, which they were photographed with for a slideshow.

For many students, reflecting on hunger issues is what drew them to the event.

Senior Lauren Hoerr visited Washington, D.C. for an alterna- tive spring break trip last March, where she learned about hunger and homelessness in the nation’s capital. The experience encouraged her to become involved with Stop Hunger Now.

“It opened my eyes to hunger issues in our country and world wide,” she said. “A person’s creativity and imagination can really blossom when hunger isn’t their biggest worry, and it just creates a world where better solutions are created.”

Some students were returning to East Gym having worked with Stop Hunger Now previously.

“I thought it would be really important to get a few service hours in and give back to the community somehow,” junior Julia Okada said. “I became interested in hunger in high school, so when I heard about this as a freshman I decided to come out. I’ve done it all three times.”

Senior Lindsay Swenson is also a veteran volunteer. As the coordinator of Campus Kitchen at Elon, she has worked with Stop Hunger Now since her freshman year, and thinks many of her peers do the same because of the university’s attitude toward service.

“I think our service learning presence at Elon is huge, it’s a part of our culture and it’s an integral part of everyone’s personality to help out other people,” she said.

But it’s not just at a volunteer event that students can make a difference. According to Swenson, fighting hunger is something anyone can do on a daily basis.

“If everyone pitches in, we can tackle it. Maybe you can go work at Loaves and Fishes. You have a food budget, you can add an extra few bucks to pick up some cans of soup. We need the donations, other people need the donations. Everybody pitching in that little bit really helps.”