Organizers of the Food for Kidz meal packing event on Thursday, March 21, say they need additional monetary contributions in order to be positioned to fill their goal of packing 100,000 meals this year.

“Any monetary contributions from organizations or individuals would be most welcomed,” said Dave Bubke of New Journey Lutheran Church, chairman of this year’s event.

Volunteers will work in assembly-line fashion to mix and package dehydrated ingredients, including vitamins, into easily prepared meals, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., March 21, in the Community Center.

“There has been a lot of interest expressed from throughout the community, and I am confident that we will have enough volunteers to make the event successful. However, fundraising has been lagging thus far, and we are still looking for contributions,” he said.

Two main annual needs are volunteers and funding.

“To be successful, the event requires about $15,000 to $20,000 of funding and about 200 volunteers the day of the event,” said Bubke.

The number of meals packed has been expanding annually. Last year, volunteers packed more than 87,000 meals of oatmeal, and this year the organizers hope to pack more so the food packets can be distributed to two additional organizations, Bubke said.

The meals last year were distributed to the Native American Urban Ministry, Native American Connections, Arizona Brainfood, the Extended Hands Food Bank in Fountain Hills, and the Navajo Mission at Rock Point, Ariz.

This year will be the ninth for the Fountain Hills food pack. During the packing this year, the event will surpass the milestone of packing a cumulative total of a half-million meals, Bubke said.

“This is an opportunity for our community of Fountain Hills to make a small but very meaningful difference to the lives of those in need,” said Bubke. “And, in addition to being rewarding, the event is also a lot of fun!”

Monetary contributions can be sent to New Journey Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 19652, Fountain Hills, AZ 85269, or via PayPal to NewJourneyLutheran@njlc-fh.org.

Inquiries may also be made via email to NewJourneyLutheran@njlc-fh.org or by calling Dave Bubke at 480-431-3735.