In less than two hours on Saturday, a group of 46 volunteers at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Bena packaged more than 10,000 meals to be distributed to areas of the world experiencing food shortages.

The meal packaging event was held in conjunction with Rise Against Hunger, an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to ending world hunger by “empowering communities, nourishing lives and responding to emergencies,” according to its website. Rise depends heavily on volunteers in all phases of its programs, from packaging to delivery.

Kathleen Macias, Community Engagement Coordinator from Rise Against Hunger’s Raleigh, N.C., headquarters, told the group the meals they were packaging would likely go to either Haiti or Nicaragua.

The packaging process was accomplished by teams who systematically filled plastic bags with measured quantities of a dehydrated vegetable mixture, soy protein, and rice. When reconstituted, the mixture in one bag will yield six meals. T...