SEATTLE — About 200 volunteers descended on St. Joseph Parish’s social hall July 21-22 to assemble 72,000 meals that will be delivered to hungry families in Milot, Haiti. 

“It was really a lot of fun. People left saying, ‘Sign us up for the next one,’” said St. Joseph of Peace Sister Coralie Muzzy, who helped organize the event that was sponsored by her congregation.

Advertised in parish bulletins around Seattle, the Packathon included six two-hour sessions where participants assembled meals of rice, dehydrated vegetables, beans and vitamin powder.

The ingredients were provided by Feed the Hunger, a Christian ministry based in North Carolina whose website says it provides hunger relief, school supplies and Bibles internationally and to the poorest areas in the United States. While most Packathons happen on the East Coast, this year included events in Boise in April and Wenatchee in June.

“When I heard about the one in Wenatchee, I thought, ‘Why not have one in Seattle?’” Sister Coralie said.

About 200 volunteers came to St. Joseph Parish in Seattle July 21-22 to assemble meals to feed people in Milot, Haiti. They assembled 72,000 meals during the two-day Packathon. (Courtesy Sister Coralie Muzzy)

The Seattle Packathon meals will go to Milot, Haiti, where two Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace served from 2009-20. Their work included organizing men to build homes with concrete and teaching staff at Hôpital du Sacré Coeur how to use computers, Sister Coralie said. 

The Packathon was so successful that Sister Coralie thinks another one might be scheduled.

“People loved it,” she said. “Everybody was laughing, smiling and working hard.”