ORLANDO, Fla. – After packing up 500,000 meals last year, Light Orlando decided to double its efforts and pack over 1 million meals on Saturday.
News 6 was at last year’s event where Light Orlando volunteers packed up meals for families in need.
Troy Wright, program officer for Light Orlando, said their church partners wanted to get even more involved this year.
“We felt like we had the capacity to do it, go bigger, go bolder, have a little more fun,” Wright said. “We just jumped on it and said, ‘Let’s get it done.’”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
It was shoulder to shoulder during Saturday’s food packing event at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.
Not only was there plenty of food to go around, there were also plenty of dance moves. A DJ filled the fairgrounds with music to keep the party going.
“It’s the music, it’s the emcee, it’s the dance party,” Wright said, “It’s just a fun atmosphere that just drives the energy with the individuals here.”
Since Light Orlando doubled the number of meals they wanted to pack up, it required more volunteers. The organization added 10 new packing tables to this year’s event.
Chloe Mcmillan was just one of some 2,200 volunteers there on Saturday.
“I just like doing stuff like this and helping out with my friend and everything,” Mcmillan said.
While Mcmillan said she had never done a volunteer event with that many people, as well as with a DJ and an emcee, she enjoyed it.
“I like it, you get the music and everything, it’s very enthusiastic,” Mcmillan said.
The final count for Saturday’s efforts was 1,041,894 meals, according to Wright.
To learn more about Light Orlando and to volunteer, click here.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: