The Rotary Club of Bowling Green and Bowling Green State University, through its athletics program and the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement, are partnering to bring 400 volunteers together on July 26 to package 70,000 meals for community and worldwide distribution.

“We’re excited to be supporting Kids Coalition Against Hunger (KCAH) by co-sponsoring this event with BGSU,” says Trevor Jessee, past president of Rotary and the service club’s team leader for this project. “We’re also delighted that we are talking about this project being a launching pad for Rotary and BGSU to partner on other large-scale service projects.”

All of the meals, materials and supplies will be funded by proceeds from Rotary’s fundraising event Nashville Nights – the Stories Behind Country Songs on Friday. Tickets are $100 and are available at evenbrite.com. The event is from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building in City Park and will feature Dave Pahanish, the mastermind behind the hits “Without You” for Keith Urban, “American Ride” for Toby Keith, and “Do You Believe Me Now” for Jimmy Wayne; Jace Everett, known for “Bad Things” from HBO’s True Blood, “That’s the Kind of Love I’m In” and Josh Turner’s number one single, “Your Man”; and Dylan Altman, a chart-topping writer for stars like Tim McGraw’s “Watch the Wind Blow By,” Jake Owen’s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” and Jason Aldean’s “Take a Little Ride.”

“This is obviously an ambitious project,” said Jessee about the packaging event. “Rotary and BGSU partnering on this initiative is a wonderful collaboration because it’s a way for students who are on campus for the summer to engage in a worthwhile community project. But it’s a big project, and we will be inviting other organizations in the community to participate. Bowling Green City Schools has already signed on as a partner.”

BGSU’s Director of Athletics and Recreation Derek van der Merwe sees great potential and benefit in partnering with Rotary.

“This will not only provide support for athletes in their leadership development,” he said, “it will also add to the relationships between town and gown.”

Jacob Clemens, senior director of the Marvin Center said, “Engaging with this project is an example of the many resources the center offers to the university’s faculty, staff and community partners who are interested in student leadership development and recruiting volunteers. We will have students on campus in July, participating in the President’s Leadership Academy and BGSU Spirit Programs, and this will be a meaningful volunteer opportunity for them.”

“This will be a huge help to our efforts,” reports Michael Burell, executive director of KCAH. “One third of the meals packaged will go to local community organizations like SeaGate Food Bank, one third will go to 30 different third world countries that we have relationships with, and the final third will be stored in our warehouse for disaster relief.”

BG Rotary is one of 46,000 clubs throughout the world, with 1.4 million members. In providing service, Rotary focuses on seven areas of interest: promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, saving Mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies and protecting the environment.

Additional information pertaining to Kids Coalition Against Hunger can be found at https://kidscoalitionagainsthunger.org

For more information, or to volunteer, email Trevor Jessee at [email protected].