Over 140 Sul Ross State University students, faculty and staff, as well as community volunteers, packaged 46,307 meals for “Feed the Funnel” in just two hours on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

For “Feed the Funnel,” dry good ingredients are combined together to make a sustainable and balanced meal with volunteers working in assembly lines. All of the meals are being donated to West Texas Food Bank and 11 food pantry partners in Brewster, Presidio, Pecos and Terrel counties.

Sul Ross is part of a pilot program for colleges and universities across the country supported by 9/11 Day, a federally recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance, AmeriCorps and the Pack Shack.  During the month of September, universities in Texas, Maine, Georgia, Idaho, New York, Ohio, Alabama, Illinois, Maine, Maryland and Arkansas will pack a combined 900,000 meals for their local communities.

This event was fully funded by local donors and corporate sponsors. West Texas National Bank was the Stars and Stripes sponsor funding 5,000 of the 12,000 raised to make this event possible. Additional sponsors included Food Pantry of Alpine, Atmos Energy, Permian Basin Area Foundation, Alpine Lion’s Club, Rio Grande Valley Electric Co-op, TransPecos Banks, Porters and Morrison’s True Value.

“Brewster County experiences higher than state and national rates of food insecurity,” said event leader Katy Williams, who is the director of Civic Engagement and Student Assistance at SRSU. “This is an issue that impacts our students, faculty, staff and community. This event was a fun way to unite people to do good and take action on an issue that many of us experience.”