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For the Patel family, the event planning, the meal packing, the sheer organizational might that will be on display on Sunday at the Sandpiper Community Center in Redwood Shores all started with young Rohan.
As a freshman in high school, Rohan Patel participated in an event sponsored by Rise Against Hunger. The North Carolina-based organization tackles hunger and food insecurity from Australia to Zimbabwe. It estimates that about 733 million people face hunger around the globe often due to climate change, conflict or economic downturn. To combat that sobering fact, Rise Against Hunger volunteers have packaged about 600 million meals for delivery to hungry people since 1998.
You could say a day’s volunteering for the organization made an impact on Rohan Patel; you could also say he and his family has made an impact on Rise Against Hunger and more importantly on the lives of people in need. On Sunday, the Patel family will gather with other volunteers to mark their one millionth meal packaged across 55 events. Together the Patel-arranged meal-packaging events have brought together almost 3,000 people over an eight-year span.
Sunday’s event is fully subscribed, but Rohan’s father, Jay Patel, says more such efforts are on the way and that new volunteers will be welcome.
For each event sponsors such as the Patels agree to package a certain number of meals. The meals are comprised of rice, soy protein, dehydrated vegetables and a vitamin package. Sponsors round up volunteers who raise money for the food and arrange for a packaging site. Rise Against Hunger delivers the food in bulk as well as other necessities for the event. The volunteers work to put the bulk food into individual packages that are ready to serve. Previous shipments of Patel-sponsored Rise Against Hunger meals were sent to the Philippines and Vietnam, among other places.
Jay Patel noted that Rohan, who his now a senior accounting major at the University of Texas, Austin, initially said he would make the program his Eagle Scout project.
“Boys say that all the time,” he father said. “When it comes time to work on the Eagle, they do something entirely different. He surprised us all.”
He said considering the scale of world hunger left an impression on his entire family, including his wife Nimisha and daughter Shivani.
“From the beginning she got involved,” he said of his daughter. “He got other relatives involved. After the event, you come off of a high and you are ready for the next event.”
Rohan often led the way, including making presentations before groups that ultimately supported his efforts.
“I think the biggest thing he has gotten out of it was that he aligned with the packaging events because he came up in an environment where he never had to worry about food on the table,” his father said. “This was the first time he realized that not everyone grew up that way.”
Jay Patel noted that faith-based organizations and Indian associations had contributed to his family’s efforts to put a dent in hunger and that the Bay Area’s diverse culture only helped people to see the need.
“When it comes to giving and volunteering, (differences don’t) matter,” said Jay Patel, who now serves on the national board of Rise Against Hunger. “People come out of the woodwork to help.”
Early on, the family planned to arrange for 75,000 packaged meals. When they blew through that goal, they raised it to one million. The Patels aren’t done yet. Jay Patel said they will set their sights on two million meals now.
“We are probably never going to stop,” he said.
To participate in future meal-packaging events, contact Rise Against Hunger.
