Pierce Stewart knows what it’s like to go hungry.

“While growing up in a low income area of Houston, not far from the University of Houston, I encountered some days where food was not very plentiful,” he said.

Local non profit, Stop Hunger Now, can package about 10,000 meals in two hours with just 40 to 50 volunteers. | Courtesy of Pierce Stewart

As the community director of Houston expansion for Stop Hunger Now, Stewart, a graduate of the C.T. Bauer School of Business, gets to help people in the same situation he was in.

Stop Hunger Now, an organization created to break the cycle of poverty, will be opening a new location in Houston this year.

“When I researched Stop Hunger Now, I realized that its mission to help the world’s most vulnerable aligned with my personal mission to use my God-given abilities to make the world a better place,” he said.

Chief marketing officer Emily B. Everett said she was inspired to get involved with the organization by its founder, the Rev. Ray Buchanan.

“Stop Hunger Now was created by Ray as an entrepreneurial model for providing rapid, cost-effective responses to international crisis situations,” Everett said. “Driven by a vision of a world without hunger, the organization provides food and life-saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable and aims to create a movement to end hunger.”

Stewart said the organization receives a lot of help from volunteers.

“A group of 40 to 50 volunteers can package 10,000 meals in just two hours,” he said.

Stop Hunger Now is providing more to the community than mere meals; it’s offering a future, Everett said.

“Stop Hunger Now helps break the cycle of poverty for meal recipients through education, skills development and health care, while they also receive much-needed nutrition,” she said. “The majority of our meals go to support school feeding, vocational training, early childhood development programs as well as to orphanages and medical clinics.”

Stewart said there are more than enough resources in the world to be able to keep everyone fed.

“The world has actually produced enough food to feed itself since the 1960s — enough to feed everyone 4.3 pounds of food each day,” he said.

Everett said Stop Hunger Now is expanding so it can share the world’s abundant food supply.

“Stop Hunger Now operates meal packaging locations in 18 cities throughout the U.S. and international locations in South Africa and Malaysia,” she said. “Four new locations are slated to open in 2013, including Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Mexico and Italy.”

Stewart encourages everyone to get involved by visiting Facebook.com/StopHungerNow-Houston for more information.

“Stop Hunger Now will be hosting a meal packaging showcase event in the Greater Houston area on Wednesday, May 8, 2013,” he said. “For more information about the showcase and other local events, visit our Facebook page.”

The organization has expanded, reaching out to various parts of the world, and that is something Everett said she takes pride in.

“Stop Hunger Now has delivered aid and disaster relief supplies in the form of food, medicines, medical supplies, medical equipment, clothing, school supplies and more to thousands of disaster victims and other hungry and vulnerable people in 83 countries,” she said.

Stewart said he believes we can end world hunger soon with a little effort.

“We have the resources. We know where to go. We strive with the hunger community to end apathy towards hunger and create a movement to end hunger in our lifetime,” he said.

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