Elon University students gathered in Alumni Gym Sept. 3 to package more than 27,000 nutritious meals to be distributed globally. This Rise Against Hunger event was sponsored by Campus Kitchen and the Kernodle Center for Civic Life. 

Over 720 million people worldwide do not receive enough nutrients, according to the United Nations, and Rise Against Hunger, an international relief agency, is working to end world hunger one meal at a time. Rise Against Hunger and Elon’s Office of Sustainability both follow the U.N. 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the second of which is “Zero Hunger.”

Emerson Wells, Elon senior and volunteer in the Office of Sustainability and Kernodle Center,  said she is happy Elon students who came to the event were able to learn about the necessity of volunteer work.

“This understanding as a student that even though you feel like your individual impact or lifestyle change or whatever it may be might not be causing a huge impact, those can add up and can make a larger impact than you realize,” Wells said.

Wells said the Office of Sustainability focuses on the connection between people, planet and prosperity. She said events such as Rise Against Hunger highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture in helping people and the environment

“No hunger and food access and food justice comes as kind of the introductory and primary cause of a lot of these other issues that need to be addressed,” Wells said.

Elon junior Ava Crawford volunteered at the event and said she loves community service. She said learning about global food insecurity was eye opening for her, and she wants to do more to give back.

“I think that volunteering is important in every aspect, whether it is your time, your attention or money, and I think that students should do more to volunteer because really Elon is such a beautiful place, and I think that we forget how lucky we are to be here and have access to things we do,” Crawford said. 

Crawford said she was surprised by how much fun she had and is looking forward to volunteering with Rise Against Hunger again. 

Students interested in learning more about future volunteer opportunities are encouraged to look on Phoenix Serve.