host an event
What is needed to host your own event in your community at your school, business, or church? How do you get started?
decide: make a decision to make an impact; your group’s time will feed hungry children and their families
plan: coordinate your volunteers, secure your packing space, and raise the needed funds; we will tailor your event to your group’s specific needs and work with you to plan a successful event
pack: we will bring everything needed to help you and your volunteers set up, organize yourselves, pack food, and clean up
What if you don’t have much space, many people, or enough money?
add yourself to our email list: sometimes, as an event nears, the sponsoring organization opens up volunteer spaces for people who aren’t part of the group—when that happens, we send out an email to our email list; sometimes, we host our own swh impact days at our facility in Waxhaw, NC and everybody is invited—if you’re on our email list, you’ll hear first
host an event at our space in Waxhaw, NC: bring your group of 20-60 people to our facility at Furniture Factory Outlet World in Waxhaw and pack up to 20,000 meals in a two-hour shift; each person is responsible for paying for the food they pack ($50 per person, or roughly 300 meals)
common questions
what kind of space is needed? most groups pack in a gym, cafeteria, or fellowship hall, but we’ve packed in warehouses, picnic shelters, inside tents, and even in a university wood-shop, so just ask us about your location; you can even pack in ours
how many meals can we pack? we pack in increments of 50,000 meals at regular packing events, and would typically recommend 200 volunteers over two shifts for that number, but we will work with your numbers and the size of your space to create your event (fewer volunteers = longer shifts; more volunteers = shorter shifts and/or more meals packed); in Waxhaw, at our facility, you’ll pack up to 15,000 meals at a fully-filled (40 people) two-hour shift
how much money do you need? the food costs 17 cents per meal and since we operate at cost, that is what we charge for meals in the greater Charlotte area ($8500 for the 50,000 meal minimum); for out-of-town events, we typically increase our minimum and add a small surcharge to help cover our extra costs; if you would like to pack in Waxhaw, you’ll need to pay $50 per person and bring between 20 and 40 volunteers
what is it like to pack in your school? you’ll pack 50,000 meals and we’ll teach you a little about hunger, poverty, nutrition (swh food and yours!), and Nicaragua, where we ship many meals; the first event at a public school is free ($4250, or 50% of our cost at a private school) and future events are $8500
where does the packed food go? we usually ship about 90% of our food to Nicaragua through partnerships with Furniture Factory Outlet World and Convoy of Hope, but if you’d like to pay to ship your food elsewhere, we will work with you; we also try to keep the remaining 10% in your local area