NEW YORK -- On Monday afternoon, more than 75 employees at Major League Baseball’s Office of the Commissioner were dressed in matching attire. Rather than wearing red, pink or white in honor of Valentine’s Day, they were decked out in company-branded T-shirts, caps and hairnets, taking part in a meal-packing volunteer event in support of Rise Against Hunger, an international relief organization.

Founded in 1998, Rise Against Hunger’s mission is to grow a global movement, nourish lives, empower communities and respond to emergencies in order to end hunger by 2030, in alignment with one of the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals.

MLB has partnered with the organization since 2015, hosting similar events during its summer internship program. This time around, the community affairs team decided to involve full-time employees in the effort, particularly for the new hires who might not be accustomed to the type of volunteer opportunities the company regularly provides. The reaction was palpable.

“Within minutes of sending out the memo, we had dozens of people signed up already,” said John Schwarz, MLB’s senior coordinator of community affairs. “I think people were ready to get back at it.”

Divided into two separate shifts and wearing masks and gloves for pandemic-safety purposes, the employees set up shop at four stations inside the company’s auditorium. The first group operated the funnels, pouring allotted amounts of soy, dehydrated vegetables and rice (in that order) into a large plastic packet. Once a clear bin had been filled, they called for a runner who took the packets to the next table over, where another set of volunteers put them on a scale to ensure they weighed 379-384 grams; otherwise, they would have to either remove or add more rice to the mix.

The packets were then handed over to the next group of volunteers, who sealed them tightly and labeled them. The last set of volunteers then placed the packets in boxes and taped them so they could be sent off to a nearby distribution warehouse operated by Rise Against Hunger’s local center, located in Kearny, N.J., 13 miles west of MLB’s headquarters.

In two hours of service, the volunteers packaged a total of 11,880 meals for people facing food insecurity around the world.

“These meals go to what we call transformational feeding programs, so that’s schools, hospitals, orphanages, vocational training programs,” Rob Whitaker, the organization’s N.Y./N.J. community engagement manager, told the employees. “So they’re not just getting a hot meal that you’re providing them; they’re getting some other service, whether it’s medical care, an education, job training. And about 70% of the people who receive our meals are women and children under the age of 18.”

When the meals are eventually distributed, they will also have a vitamin packet in them specifically formulated to address the most common deficiencies in food insecure people, namely iron, magnesium, and vitamins C and D. The supply-chain issues caused by COVID-19’s lingering shadow caused a delay on that end, something Rise Against Hunger has had to contend with over the course of the pandemic.

“As COVID hit, [in] the countries that were already facing food insecurity, that hunger is compounded and the issue grows greater,” said Robbie Gaines, the organization’s assistant community engagement manager. “… That’s why we talk about the global movement; there is enough food in this world to make sure everyone is fed. It’s just teaming up with all the partners we can engage with to create conversation around ending global food insecurity. That can only be done when we all work together.”

In 2020 alone, Rise Against Hunger served nearly 3 million people while engaging more than 80,000 volunteers and distributed over 25 million meals through food packing events and regional food procurement. Along the way, the organization has been pushing for sustainable agriculture practices, working directly with its host partners in more than 40 countries to make land, livestock and the like more accessible to people in developing areas.

“They’re going to bed, waking up hungry every day; a hot meal might be the difference between them getting through that day or not,” Whitaker said. “But it also helps us build trust. [It’s like] that old saying, ‘Give a man a fish and they eat for a day. Teach ’em to fish and they eat for the rest of their lives.’”

But the crux of Rise Against Hunger’s work -- its “signature experience,” as Gaines put it -- is the meal-packaging events like the one MLB hosted Monday. That’s why they brought a gong and struck it each time the volunteers surpassed 1,000 meals packed. It’s why they were working hands-on alongside the so-called “muscle crew,” refilling buckets of ingredients by lifting 50-pound bags of food. And it’s why they hope to keep coming back, as long as there’s still a need and a will to help.

“As we get back to in-person events, we realize how important these volunteer service opportunities are and how they can be bonding in bringing the team together,” Gaines said. “I’ve seen such high energy, everybody happy to be volunteering, and that’s a beautiful thing. … When people come together, that’s what makes the world go ’round.”