Kearney Unites Against Hunger

In a one day event, over 300 volunteers showed up pn August 8, 2025, to pack 51,000 meals for local food pantries to distribute in the Kearney area over the next several months. From eight to eighty years old, give or take a few years, the community showed up in droves to make an impact in a positive way. 

The Outreach Project, a group based in Iowa, brought raw materials and organized the process. Local businesses brought volunteers. The Outreach Project, who implements these events across the nation throughout the year with other United Ways, churches and groups, was impressed with the work effort of Central Nebraskans. In the first shift, volunteers needed to be turned away because there simply was not enough room for everyone who came to help. The parking lot overflowed from the First Presbyterian Church's parking lot to the YMCA's lot. Although that was the plan, it was not anticipated to be used. 

The final shift boxed up seven meals which included oatmeal, pasta and deluxe macaroni and cheese. The 1200 pantry packs were distributed between Jubilee Center, Community Action Partnership, Storehouse, Gibbon Free Pantries, and the Community Assistance Fair.