Break a World Record Today at the Gryphon Field House
September 08, 2012 - News Release
The University of Guelph’s world record event to fight global hunger has been moved to the Field House (directly north of the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre and south of Alumni Stadium) due to inclement weather. U of G students, faculty, staff are encouraged to brave the elements and attend today's event.
It will start at 1 p.m. Saturday, with registration at noon. People may also register online.
The goal is to pack 200,000 emergency relief meals in just 60 minutes, and set a new World Record. Organizers are hoping to see hundreds of community members and students at the event.
Members of an assembly line will measure meal ingredients — rice, soy, beans and a vitamin packet — and fill and seal plastic bags.
The food will be shipped to the West African country of Mauritania, which has been affected by severe drought and is one of the poorest countries in the world.
ONEXONE, a Canadian charity, will be at the event to raise funds for its hunger alleviation programs in aboriginal communities.
Prizes will be awarded for such categories as most team spirit and most meals packed.
The 2012 event — part of the University’s Better Planet Project — is also intended to raise awareness and engage students in emergency relief and hunger issues in Canada and around the world.
“More than 25,000 people die each day from hunger — more than tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS combined,” said Gavin Armstrong, a biomedical science PhD student who organized the event and has worked to battle global hunger for six years.
Armstrong led last year’s inaugural world record challenge at Guelph. That event attracted about 800 U of G members and Guelph residents and helped send 159,840 famine relief meals to schoolchildren in Haiti.
