Volunteers break world record for hunger relief

Last Saturday 2,000 volunteers from Arizona State University and Valley of the Sun United Way joined together on ASU’s Band Practice Fields on the Tempe campus to attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records’ Most Hunger Relief Kits Assembled record.

They succeeded, assembling a total of 1,993 hunger relief kits in less than three minutes, beating the previous record of 1,000.

Kelsey Nelson, ASU student and president of Student United Way, was eager to help out. “I work a lot with students as an education major, so I see a lot of the issues that students and community members face with hunger and education,” she said. “As a student at ASU, with such a large community, I felt that I could make a difference and find other students at ASU who felt the same way.”

All of the efforts of volunteers at the event benefits the Valley of the Sun United Way chronic childhood hunger efforts. The hunger relief kits will be distributed on Fridays to children at lower-income schools, to ensure they have enough to eat over the weekend.

“We’re committed to making systemic change around hunger, said Merl Waschler, president of Valley of the Sun United Way. “(This event is) one step in a lot of steps, but … you (have to) feel hopeful for what we can do together.”