Meals from the Heartland’s 15th Annual Hunger Fight will return to Hy-Vee Hall this year after a two-year hiatus. This year’s event will run from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3. It had been held in downtown Des Moines since it began in 2008, but moved to Meals from the Heartland’s West Des Moines packaging center in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. During that time it incorporated a new bulk-packaging procedure that allowed fewer volunteers to package more meals. During the previous 14 events volunteers have packaged 61 million meals. The total number of meals that Meals from the Heartland has packaged is expected to exceed 200 million with this year’s event. Volunteer registration for this year’s Hunger Fight is now open.

Iowa Stops Hunger is a yearlong Business Publications Corp. initiative to bring awareness and action to food insecurity in Iowa. Read additional stories on Iowastopshunger.com.