Hy-Vee Hall will be flooded by thousands of volunteers in an effort to package millions of meals for the world’s hungry next week, as well as to manage a food drive for the Food Bank of Iowa.

Meals From the Heartland has been loaned Hy-Vee Hall Sept. 1 through Sept. 9 for the mass production of bagged meals, and more than 15,000 volunteers are expected to help with the packaging efforts.

Mark Aeilts, an executive committee member for Meals from the Heartland and a vice president at Wells Fargo & Co., is passionate about the event and wants to use this opportunity to help collect food and supplies for Iowans, especially after this summer’s extensive flooding.

Aeilts said that Meals From the Heartland will be collecting nonperishable food items during the eight-day drive for the Food Bank of Iowa, as well as collecting school supplies for families who were affected by June’s flooding.

“These people are going to be reeling for a while,” he said. “How cool would it be to provide them with school supplies for 2008 and into 2009?”

During the nine-day drive, Meals from the Heartland hopes to package a record 3 million meals to be shipped to Africa, Haiti and elsewhere, Aeilts said. And Meals from the Heartland hasn’t waited to get started.

Last week, Drake University athletes packaged nearly 19,500 meals as part of a competition to kick off the event. Drake’s freshmen men’s soccer team packaged the most meals and took the first-place trophy.

Volunteers may sign up to help at Meals From the Heartland’s Web site, www.mealsfromtheheartland.org.