HanaByte Hearts: Rise Against Hunger Rechallenge

After moving through the safety procedures, the liability waivers, and the informational briefing about the work that Rise Against Hunger does to give back, the team split into the various stations for tutorials, or refreshers for some of our team, on the steps they will be taking to fill meal bags together. When the classic rock and pop playlist started to blast over the speakers, there was instant chaos in the room, a den of lyrics, conversations, and hands at work. Two stations were set up scooping the rice, the soy, the veggies, and the condiment sachets into bags. 

Our CEO, Kat Evans, led at the head of the operation, working side by side with team members while laughing and catching up in person. With each scoop of nutrient-rich food, our team was confronted with the reminder of how precious those grains of rice are and how much good this simple action would do to families that they will never meet. A life change that will be remembered in the sore shoulder of repetitive movement over the course of a few hours. In the center, a team worked to weigh the bags carefully and seal them for safe transportation to agencies around the world for distribution. The weight of such small bags in our hands as they were carefully melted and sealed, held a reminder of how the smallest action can make a significant impact on an entire family. Finally, at the tail of this assembly was a team carefully counting out the bags, pasting stickers, and assembling boxes. Here, our founder and CTO, Eric Evans, took special care to personally pack these meals into boxes. He expressed pride in having the opportunity to be the last person to handle the meals before they arrived at their new destinations, as this is the closest thing he could do to deliver meals hand to hand.