100 Volunteers to Participate in Meal-Packing Project on October 12th
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (October 6, 2016) — The Muhammad Ali Center’s Youth Programs – the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students (MACCS) and UCrew, are partnering with Love the Hungry and UPS for a service project event on October 12th at the Muhammad Ali Center. One hundred volunteers, including the youth participants and representatives from UPS, will fill and produce 3,000 Nutri-PlentyTMpouches in approximately 90 minutes. The project is funded by the UPS Foundations grant to the Muhammad Ali Center’s educational programming.
“The Ali Center is proud to partner on such a relevant initiative that benefits persons living both in our community and around the world,” said Jeanie Kahnke, Sr. Director of Public Relations and External Affairs at the Ali Center. “In correlation with World Hunger Action Month, this service project will engage the Center’s youth program participants in concrete ways that demonstrate the strength of volunteerism and the power of innovation.”
Love the Hungry is a local nonprofit organization focused on providing nutrient-rich meals that can alleviate and reverse the effects of malnutrition in young children. The Nutri-PlentyTM meal pouches are fortified with Mathile M+ Micronutrients™ and a combination of rice, soy, and dehydrated vegetables, complete with 21 vitamins and minerals, and 12 grams of protein. Each pouch creates enough meals to feed six children. Through the service project, the Center’s Youth Programs will provide enough Nutri-PlentyTM servings to feed 700 children every day for an entire month. In September, Love the Hungry produced their 4 millionth meal.
“Our approach is very hands-on,” said Dale Oelker, executive director of Love the Hungry, “providing a tangible way for volunteers to play a role in delivering life-changing nutrition to children that suffer from chronic undernourishment.”
While 15% of the total meals packaged remain to assist Kentuckiana families, Love the Hungry has distributed meals to 15 different countries, focusing primarily on Central America, Haiti, South Sudan and West Africa. They recently connected with Louisville-based WaterStep and CEO Mark Hogg, who won the 2013 Muhammad Ali Kentucky Humanitarian Award, to begin development of a nutrition center and clean water initiative in South Sudan.
“Like Muhammad Ali, UPS is in the business of connecting people all over the planet, whether thru commerce or humanitarian aid,” said Mike Mangeot, UPS Airlines Director of Strategic Communications. “This relief project is a wonderful way to help people in impoverished regions while teaching our young people about the importance of service.”
The service project will be on Wednesday, October 12th from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center.
About Love the Hungry
Established in 2012, Love the Hungry, Inc. (formerly Kids Against Hunger-Louisville) is writing a new chapter in our mission to bring nourishment and hope to children and families throughout the world. Co-founded by Dale and Tonja Oelker and supported by dedicated volunteers, Love the Hungry is centered on a faith-based principle that “…our love should be more than just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” (1 John 3:18) Our goal is to engage volunteers of all ages in a meaningful hands-on experience that enables them to take action to end hunger. Local action. Global compassion. For more information, please visit www.lovethehungry.org.
About the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students
The Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students (MACCS) is a diverse group of young leaders, committed to improving themselves and their communities through the practice of Muhammad Ali’s six core principles: Respect, Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Spirituality, and Giving. As a youth-led organization, these dynamic students make decisions that guide the course of their service work and leadership development.
About UCREW
UCREW is a ground-breaking social enterprise program of the Muhammad Ali Center available to high school students. The program offers a unique opportunity for students to not only learn about social entrepreneurship, but to work in teams to develop an actual social enterprise. During the 2016-2017 school year, students will meet twice monthly to explore the issue of “poverty” in their communities and to reflect on ways to combat local poverty through creative business endeavors. By the end of the program, students will have conceptualized, produced, marketed, and launched a small social enterprise business.
ABOUT THE MUHAMMAD ALI CENTER
The Muhammad Ali Center, a 501(c)3 corporation, was co-founded by Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The international cultural center promotes the six core principles of Muhammad Ali (Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect, and Spirituality) in ways that inspire personal and global greatness and provides programming and events around the focus areas of education, gender equity, and global citizenship. Its newest initiative, Generation Ali, fosters a new generation of leaders to contribute positively to their communities and to change the world for the better. The Center’s headquarters also contains an award-winning museum experience. For more information, please visit www.alicenter.org