Volunteers prepare to 'Smack Hunger & Say Cheese' for a good cause

Over 400 volunteers will package meals for the Marathon County Hunger Coalition next Tuesday, and it's all apart of the United Way program, 'Smack Hunger & Say Cheese.'

The United Way of Marathon County is putting on the smack hunger event for the third year now, saying that each time they put it on, it just continues to grow.

"We started off with probably only 100 some volunteers and one kind of meal to package, which was macaroni and cheese," explained Tara Glodowski with the United Way. "Now, we're up to over 400 volunteers, and three different kinds of meals that get packaged and distributed."

Those meals include, macaroni and cheese, a tomato and basil pasta, and new this year, an apple cinnamon oatmeal.

All of the packaged items will go out to the hunger coalition as well as local food pantries in need, but before they can be shipped off to help out others, many volunteers need to help make it happen.

"This is my first year volunteering, and I'm excited for it," said Peter Gaffaney.

Gaffaney and Glodowski explained that the entire process from start to finish will only take about 90 minutes, and in that time they'll pack up around 90,000 servings of food, and 15,000 packages!

"This is by far the biggest year we've ever had, and we're not complaining at all, it's great to be able to help out those who need it because there is a huge need for this in our area. There are hungry people here and we don't often stop to think about that," Glodowski said.

If you're interested in volunteering or donating for the event, all you have to do is,

This year's 'Smack Hunger & Say Cheese' will take place on Tuesday May 16th at 5 p.m. in the Marathon Park Multi Purpose Building 1.