Talk about a sight to see. Thursday morning it was an assembly line comprised of men, women and children who all had one goal and that was to feed the hungry.

All volunteered with a food packaging service project that was conducted at Jubilee Mennonite Church in Meridian.

As part of this effort, the church has partnered with the national, 'Stop Hunger Now" initiative to put together dried food bags for people in Haiti.

"Children get to pick up food at schools, learn and take it back home to their families," says Chris Bowers who was the local organizer for the volunteer effort at Jubilee church.

The little packets were each filled with rice, a soy mixture that contains 11 grams of protein, dehydrated vegetables and 21 essential vitamins and minerals. By adding water, officials say the little meals have a big impact."

"This is something you can do with your civic organization, your church, your school or business, pretty much anywhere where you can muster 30 or 40 folks and raise $2,500 and we'll come help you pack it,' says Stop Hunger Now representative, Matt Casteel.

The goal of the volunteers in this effort was to package 20,000 bags of food within two hours.
"It's a good thing and it's a blessing in it, not just for me, but also for who it's going to," said volunteer, Clarice Pettis from St. John Baptist Church in Meridian.

"It's just important to help people in need. We're doing Habitat for Humanity and this is just a little extra so we can help, not just Mississippi, but other places all around," says Nicole Bracco, who was a volunteer from Suffolk University in Massachusetts.

Citing that there is still great need for assistance in Haiti, Stop Hunger Now officials say they are also turning their attention to ways they can help in Japan.

"We're working with our partners in the country and the Feed the Children and Feed the Hungry programs that are already on the ground," says Casteel.

As for the packaged meals being sent to Haiti, Casteel says they can last up to five years and feed up to six people.

Stop Hunger Now is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1998 in North Carolina. Since last year's massive earthquake, it has distributed more than 11 million of the packaged meals in Haiti.