It was a packing party at Ohio State’s Recreation and Physical Activity Center – complete with music and a live performance from alumni Mekka Don – as hundreds of volunteers scooped rice, beans and spices into bags to prepare 350,000 meals for food insecure families on Wednesday.
The BeKind food packing event has been held since 2016, but OSU student life spokesman Dave Isaacs said this year will see the most meals ever packed.
"And with this event, we will pass the two million mark in total number of meals packed,” Isaacs said.
Most of the estimated 1,100 volunteers who packed meals during two afternoon sessions were Ohio State University students, faculty and staff, but some came from other schools to join the effort. Those schools included Capital University, Denison University, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Wesleyan University and Otterbein University.
The event coincided with September 11 National Day of Service. The day remembers the 9/11 terrorist attacks with acts of service.
“The people behind that national day want to spread the spirit that arose after the attacks of unity and commitment to service. And so, this carries on that theme on an appropriate day," Isaacs said.
Volunteer Emilia Louy, a senior academic advisor with OSU's Military and Veterans Services was putting finished packages of food into boxes. She said she was very young during the 2001 attacks.
"So, for me, it's giving back to the community and helping the folks who did, who are able and continue to serve in the military, but also within our community, because service comes in different forms – whether it’s military service, community service or just helping in your community,” Louy said.
Chris Addison, who was volunteering for the Ohio State Alumni Association, said he was in high school when 9/11 happened.
“So obviously, it was something I remember vividly, and to be able to relate 9/11 with service activities is, I think, a great way to honor those people who tragically lost their lives,” Addison said.
He said he was also happy to give back to the community, because he grew up food insecure.
The meals will be loaded onto the OSU football tractor-trailer truck. On Friday, the meals will be taken to non-profits in Adams, Brown, Franklin, Hamilton, Highland and Montgomery counties.
Julie Fox with the Ohio State University College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science, said each year the BeKind event chooses a different location in the state to send shelf-stable meals. This year, organizers targeted southwest Ohio.
“It's exciting to see when our campus and community partners come together for some of Ohio's greatest opportunities and needs,” Fox said.
