Interested in hosting a Packathon at your church, school, civic club, or business? Want to host a fun, family-friendly event that will directly feed the physical and emotional hunger of children in desperate need? You can easily host a Packathon in your hometown. Most of our events fall within the 50,000 to 100,000 meal range, with the exception of smaller events (12,000 and 24,000 meals) within a close proximity of Burlington, NC. We are also happy to facilitate larger events anywhere in the continental U.S. (100,000+ meals). If you want to host an event but think your group is too small, be sure to check out the NEW Packathon Express. We’ve designed our Express events to be accessible to nearly every church, school, business, or other group anywhere in the continental US!

The biggest goals you will need to accomplish as Packathon host are:

  1. Securing funds to cover the meal goal at $0.37 per meal
  2. Ensuring the necessary volunteers are on site to pack
  3. Securing an ideal location and a few required supplies that will need to be there on our arrival (listed below).

Here’s what you need to know:

Who:

You and your church congregation, classmates, co-workers, and members of the surrounding community. You’ll need about 125 people for every 25,000 meals packed.

What (you’ll need):

You will need to provide— A large enough packing and orientation spot, 6’ rectangular tables (30-50 depending on event size), chairs for orientation area, trash cans, vacuum or brooms, dumpster access, 2 sound systems, TV/projector screen and DVD player, a kitchen or industrial sink to wash supplies. A forklift is required for all events 50,000 meals and larger.

When:

We will work with you on a date to be set anywhere from 2 to 12 months out. Additionally, we will work out fundraising target dates and a payment schedule.

Where:

We need to work in a packing area (details mentioned above) and there must be enough parking space for each shift’s participants and designated space for our truck to drop a shipping container for the week(end).

Why:

Because it truly is more than a meal. The event is a hands-on service opportunity that is truly rewarding and will bring people together in a way your community may have never seen before. Beyond the event, your work will go towards providing more and more at-risk children a physical meal every day of the school year, and with that the emotional and spiritual food that comes from being nurtured by our Christian partners overseas.

Finally, what you can expect from us—We are here to support you before, during, and after the event. We will help you set a date and a reasonable meal goal. We will provide you with the necessary marketing tools to raise interest and give you clear goals on reaching your event’s fundraising target. We will work with you in forming “core teams” to carry out the different aspects of the event (e.g. registration, set-up/break-down, etc.). We will be there the day before the event starts to set up and will supply everything except what is listed above. We will facilitate each packing session and give the orientation/training talks as well as a closing segment to end the shift. We will ensure that all food is packed according to FDA standards and that each participant has the most rewarding experience they can have.

We look forward to working with you in hosting an amazing event! Call us with any questions you might have. We are open from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (Eastern) and you can reach us at packathon@feedthehunger.org or (888)772-9634.

Thanks and God Bless!