Members from Mansfield UMC are doing their part to find hunger around the world.

Nearly 60 volunteers from five different counties spent a recent Saturday packing up 10,152 meals to feed the hungry in Belize through the nonprofit Stop Hunter Now.

“I can tell you when I first started out, I was a little worried it wasn’t going to work out, but seeing the community come together, there was nothing like it,” said church member Mathew Shelton. “It touched my heart to see so many people from so many different areas come together for a common cause. It was amazing.”

The volunteers were comprised of church members and residents from the surrounding area ranging from ages five to those in their 80s. They spent three-plus hours putting together special high-protein packages that combine rice, soy and dehydrated vegetables into a small meal packet; each meal costs only 29 cents, according to Stop Hunger Now’s website.

Stop Hunger Now provides the food, bags and packages and delivers them to various volunteer groups by truck, while the volunteers provide the cost of the food and the manpower to package it up.

Shelton said it was great to see how many children participated in the event, which was born of Mansfield UMC Pastor Todd Hilton’s desire to increase the church’s support of mission. The event was so successful, Shelton is hoping to have another packing event this fall with double the number of volunteers and meals.

For more information about Mansfield UMC visit mansfieldumc.com; for more about Stop Hunger Now visit stophungernow.org.