CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Local volunteers from University Baptist Church partnered with Rise Against Hunger on Saturday to package more than 20,000 meals to be shipped worldwide to communities suffering from food insecurity. 

Rise Against Hunger is a growing global movement working to end world hunger. Partnership Manager Sheila Russ says a lot of people think hunger just involves an empty stomach, but there is much more to it. 

"Sometimes it does have to deal with a lack of available resources, and sometimes they have plenty of resources but there is not a nutritional balance in those resources," Russ said.

After the bags are packed, they are then distributed around the world to communities that are actively in need of the nutrients. University Baptist Church is one of the many volunteer groups that host meal packaging events. 

“We have been partnering with Rise Against Hunger throughout 2023. Our initial goal was to pack 100,000 meals throughout the year over the course of eight events. What we found is that there was such enthusiasm within our congregation that we blew through our goal pretty quickly and right now we are on track to pack around 130,000 meals,” Senior Minister Matthew Tennant said.

Each bag package contains freeze-dried veggies, soy, and rice which can make up to six meals. And each box has the nutrients that can feed a child for a year. If you want to get involved with Rise Against Hunger, you can visit https://www.riseagainsthunger.org/ for more information.