Statewide Iowa — Meals from the Heartland has sponsored a “Unite for Ukraine” event to produce an estimated 300-thousand packaged meals.
Several legislators, the governor and her staff and other members of the general public took shifts at HyVee’s conference center in West Des Moines over the past two days, standing along assembly lines to scoop up ingredients into bags. Meals from the Heartland executive director Greg DeHaai says hundreds of volunteers joined the effort.
After the war started, DeHaai says his organization started getting questions about how to help Ukraine, but couldn’t figure out the logistics.
HyVee donated 50-thousand dollars to cover the cost of the ingredients for “Taco Mac” and “Hearty Pack” meals.
DeHaai spoke at a news conference with the sound of scooping in the background as volunteers filled the meal bags. Each box of 36 meal bags includes a note of encouragement, from Iowa to Ukraine.
