PHOTO GALLERY: Waukee Serves Packages Meals From The Heartland

There was a well-oiled machine running in the atrium of the Point of Grace Church this morning.

Nearly 400 volunteers worked quickly and efficiently to put together more than 65,000 for the Clive-based Meals from the Heartland, a non-profit organization that packages meals for impoverished countries.

The effort at was spearheaded by a newly-formed group called Waukee Serves, a collaboration of several Waukee churches and their congregation members who seek to serve others through volunteer projects like this one. Those churches include: , Point of Grace, , , and the .

Waukee Serves volunteer coordinator Mark Yontz said the whole project started after he and his family packaged meals for Meals from the Heartland at an event at Hy-Vee Hall.

"We wanted to recreate the sort of thing that happened at Hy-Vee Hall but on a smaller scale," he said.

The meals, put together with an assembly line of volunteers, incorporates rice, soy protein, vitamin powder and dried vegetables into a 13.8 ounce bag. Each bag contains enough to feed six people and costs only 90 cents.

Yontz said volunteers not only packaged the meals, but also raised money to pay for them. More than $11,000 was raised from individual donations and business sponsorships that will translate into more than 65,000 meals for the impoverished.

Once the meals are packaged, they will be shipped around the globe to countries like South Africa, Haiti, Mexico and Nigeria. Some boxes will remain in the United States for distribution at homeless shelters and local food pantries.

"These meals are a lifesaver for many people," Yontz said. "In some places, this might be the only meal someone gets in an entire day."