Lions and Leos to make 50,000 ‘Meals of Hope’

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Signal Mountain Lions and Signal Mountain Leos Clubs will be partnering to provide 50,000 meals to assist the needy in the East Tennessee area with over 130 people volunteering their time to help those in need.

“Literally 52,000 meals were done, and we do food distribution three days a week and so this is a great way to augment what we’re already doing,” said Executive Director of Hope for the Inner City, Anthony Watkins.

While Anthony does provide meals to those in need at least 3 times a week, he hasn’t provided this many in such a short span but the president of Operation Inasmuch was impressed with just how efficient they were putting together 50,000 meals in just under two hours.

“What we did this morning with the setup, we were able to package all of the meals, which is really amazing just in a little over two hours,” said Watkins.

With foods such as rice & beans, macaroni & cheese, pasta with red sauce, oatmeal with cinnamon, sugar and apples and chicken/rice vegetable soup, they come with a long shelf life which ensures those who receive these meals that they are completely healthy.

“The cool thing about this food is that it has a shelf life of two years and it’s something that will last long and it’s pretty healthy,” said Watkins.

Anthony added that he is hoping to do more fundraisers like this in the upcoming future, and he is blessed to have the support to ensure this could happen.