Thousands of volunteers pack 1.5 million meals for families across Metro Atlanta

On Saturday, September 9, 2023 the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm gathered 5,000 volunteers at the award-winning State Farm Arena to pack more than one million meals as part of the 2023 Million Meal Pack! Volunteers were joined by Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman, Hawks and State Farm Arena Chief Executive Officer Steve Koonin, State Farm Senior Vice President Dan Krause, NBA Hall of Famer and Hawks Legend Dominique Wilkins, Hawks Forward Jalen Johnson and a few other special guests who shared heartfelt gratitude to the volunteers who devoted their time to support the team’s largest single-day community service effort of the year. 

Individuals, families, community groups, schools, churches, businesses and more congregated on the arena floor to pack the meals. Together with volunteers from U.S. Hunger and executives from both the Hawks and State Farm, they collectively achieved an impressive total of 1,020,672 meals packed.

“The Million Meal Pack was once again an incredible event, with thousands of volunteers coming together to help our Atlanta neighbors struggling with food insecurity,” said Dan Krause, Senior Vice President at State Farm. “We were proud to bring together local State Farm agents, employees and community volunteers to make a meaningful difference. We appreciate everyone who participated and give thanks to the Atlanta Hawks for our ongoing partnership in giving back and strengthening our communities.”

The packed meals will be distributed throughout the metro Atlanta area with the operational support of U.S. Hunger, a hunger relief organization with innovative programs designed to help feed people struggling with food insecurity. Additionally, 12 other local organizations will help distribute the meals including Atlanta Community Food Bank, Community Assistance Center, Fountain of Hope, Georgia State University Panther’s Pantry, Goodr, Hope Atlanta, Latin American Association, Midwest Food Bank, Meals On Wheels Atlanta, North Fulton Community Charities, Second Helpings and the Salvation Army of Metro Atlanta. 

On the following Monday, September 11, 2023, seventeen cities across the country observed the 22nd 9/11 of Remembrance, packing meals for their local communities. In total, more than 6.5 million meals were packed by more than 10,000 volunteers.

Here in Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens, several current and former Atlanta Falcons (including our old friend Freddie) joined close to 1,000 volunteers to pack more than 350,000 meals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“Today we are packing between 350,000 meals, it’s all going to be oatmeal. It’s going to be distributed to our partners at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and then they are going to help distribute it to all the food pantries in the metro Atlanta region,” said Jay Cranman, CEO of Hands On Atlanta.

One of the volunteers, Alesha Bell shared, “This is a perfect way to give back and remember the lives lost on 9/11. But also feeding the community is important, it helps us thrive.”

Thank you’s and high-fives to all of our support staff volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make all of this incredible impact happen! If you want to get involved and do something about food insecurity, click the button below to find an opportunity near you.

Make the Assist | Help1 million meals get packed

It’s no secret, we’re passionate about fighting food insecurity across metro Atlanta. With more than 22% of Atlantans living below the poverty line, food insecurity is a growing concern in our community. In fact, hunger will impact 1 in 4 Atlanta children at some point this year.

The Atlanta Hawks are rallying the Atlanta community to pack more than 1 million meals for Georgia families facing food insecurity. The Million Meal Pack happens July 16 at State Farm Arena and we need about 200 Support Staff volunteers to help ensure the meals get packed so families get fed.

As a Support Staff volunteer, You will NOT be packing meals. You’ll be assisting the event, leading groups of volunteer meal packers as a Table Captain or by running food, replenishing supplies and packing boxes as a Logistics volunteer. We’ve outlined roles and responsibilities below.

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Volunteer Perks

Those in attendance will be volunteering alongside influencers from the worlds of sports, entertainment, government, and business, during a fun-filled day with music, performances, free swag and more! Everyone who completes a volunteer shift will receive a voucher for a pair of free tickets to a select upcoming Hawks home game. Exact game dates will be available following the release of the 2022-23 season schedule. Volunteers will also get an event t-shirt and a meal at the start of their shift.

Support Staff Roles + Responsibilities 

Table Captains
As a Support Staff volunteer, you’ll be a part of the production team that supports and assists the 5,000 Meal Packing volunteers to ensure we hit the total meals packed goal. As a Table Captain, you’ll be assigned to a table and lead the 10-15 volunteers in packing meals. You will train the meal packing volunteers, oversee the packing process for their table for the entirety of the event and be responsible for cleanup in between meal packing shifts. You should be comfortable speaking in front of and instructing groups, comfortable with ensuring that safety protocols are followed by all volunteers (provided by Meal Pack partner), and ready to help keep energy high and atmosphere fun during packing. You’ll be on your feet and moving throughout your shift.

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Operations + Logistics
As a Support Staff volunteer, you’ll be a part of the production team that supports and assists the 5,000 Meal Packing volunteers to ensure we hit the total meals packed goal. The Operations + Logistics volunteer will fill and refill meal ingredients from their bags, keep a continual supply at individual packing lines, and work with Table Captains to ensure efficient/proper packaging of individual bags into boxes and onto the pallets. This is a very active role where volunteers need the ability to lift 50 lbs and be on their feet and moving throughout their shift.

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Shifts

• 6:30am – 1:00pm: Breakfast and training provided on-site before you volunteer

• 11:00am – 5:30pm: Lunch and training provided on-site before you volunteer

Impact from 2019’s Million Meal Pack

Are you ready to fight food insecurity and have some fun with the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena? Make the assist and sign up now!