Over 500 Volunteers Honor Dr. King’s Legacy of Service Through AgriMeals for Change Event
On Monday, January 19, over 530 volunteers came together at Virginia State University (VSU)’s Multipurpose Center for the AgriMeals for Change meal packaging event. Virginia Cooperative Extension at VSU partnered with The Outreach Program. This non-profit connects individuals and organizations with volunteer opportunities to address access to food, clean water, education and medical care in their communities, to host the event. Together, they set a goal of packaging 50,000 nutritious boxed meal kits to bolster local food banks, including VSU’s campus food bank.
VSU’s Community Resource Development Extension Associate, Ms. Novita Epps, and School and Community Garden Extension Associate, Mr. Kristoff Minus, organized the community-focused volunteer event, with Mr. Chad Topper of The Outreach Program. Topper was an outstanding collaborator for the event, and drove all the way from Wichita, Kansas with the supplies and food to make the occasion possible. “In Virginia, where one in eight people face food insecurity, every box of packaged meals helps fight hunger, reduce food waste and restore dignity to families in need,” says Epps. “Volunteers who package food for donations are packing more than meals; we are packaging and delivering hope.” Epps and Minus initially sought 200 volunteers to work one of two shifts setting up for the event, at one of 20 stations to pack ingredients and meal components, to serve as a team captain or help clean up at the event’s conclusion. Over double that number of volunteers braved the cold to show up ready to serve, representing community members, students and faculty decked in Trojan orange and blue, plus local partners and organizations.
VSU’s College of Agriculture Interim Associate Dean and Associate Extension Administrator, Mr. Chris Mullins, welcomed everyone with a reminder of the day’s purpose. “Dr. King believed that service was a powerful expression of love and leadership, and while MLK Day has become known as a ‘day on’ not a ‘day off,’ the idea behind it reflects Dr. King’s own belief that progress requires action, and you all are acting today,” said Mullins. He thanked everyone for choosing service, choosing unity and honoring Dr. King’s legacy. At 20 stations around the room, volunteers of all ages wore aprons, gloves and hairnets, ready to work and buzzing with energy. “We’re ready! We’re ready!” chanted one volunteer as she danced at the event’s kickoff.
Volunteers worked quickly and efficiently to package ingredients for nutrient-dense meals like cinnamon oatmeal and macaroni and cheese. At the end of each workstation, large plastic-lined boxes held ingredients, from which volunteers scooped precise portions and poured them into sealable packages. Around the room, young children, seniors, and people of different abilities were a collective flurry of activity, measuring spices, funneling oats or noodles into bags and keeping the meal package assembly process moving. Small children carefully affixed labels with lot numbers and “best by” dates to packages of macaroni, while adults hoisted enormous bags of ingredients to refill the stations.
The event drew volunteers from across the state. Members from Future Farmers of America traveled from Manasses, 4-H youths from around the region and the fraternities and sororities comprising the Divine Nine all gathered to contribute. “We have so many people who are getting this job done, and we’re going to feed 50,000 community members here in the area,” said Epps during the event. “We’re going to replenish the food bank here at Virginia State University, as well as local food banks and food pantries in this area.” When the second shift of volunteers arrived, Associate Dean and Associate Research Director of VSU’s College of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Station, Dr. Ronald Howell welcomed new volunteers with energy and enthusiasm, ensuring the morning’s excited atmosphere continued into the next shift.
A DJ helped keep the energy high as stacks of boxes filled with complete packaged meals grew taller on wide pallets. Some boxes had hand-written messages of care and inspiration. Volunteers wrote “with love” and “because you matter” on one box, while another box was covered in stickers and happy faces. Volunteer Kyra Harvey shared, “It’s very touching to see the work of Martin Luther King still living on. I’m so happy to see people from all walks of life coming together to work towards the greater good for other people in the community.”
A loud gong sounded to cheers as the group met their goal of 50,000 packaged meals. AgriMeals for Change was the result of months of effort from Extension and College of Agriculture leaders at VSU, leadership from The Outreach Program, and the hundreds of individuals who worked hard to realize the vision of caring for the community through donated meals. In the days following the event, over 10 organizations, from local churches to grassroots non-profits and food pantries, received packaged meals to distribute to communities across Central Virginia. The Outreach Program’s slogan is, “together we can make a difference.” By joining this organization and Extension at VSU on this year’s MLK Day of Service, each volunteer made a difference in improving the well-being of their Virginia neighbors.
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