Cary Christian School’s gym vibrated with energy Friday as students from kindergarten to 12th grade packaged food for the hungry in Haiti and Zambia. About 800 students spent time putting rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and vitamin tablets into bags that were then sealed and boxed for delivery in countries most students have only seen on their classroom globes.

Partnered with Stop Hunger Now’s Operation Sharehouse and four Cary area Rotary clubs, Cary Christian School organizers planned to complete 80,000 to 90,000 meals by the end of the day. The students’ enthusiasm and tirelessness meant that 45,000 were ready to go by 10:30 a.m.

“I think it’s great to use what we have to bless others,” said Andrew Rice, 17. “I’m glad the school gives us the opportunity to use this time.”

As younger students served as runners and older students caught meal packages in mid-air and packed boxes, Rotary member Mark Wainwright noticed a spirit of nurturing. “I see older kids mentoring the young ones; a student a foot taller is helping the smaller one measure rice,” he said.

Stop Hunger Now representatives coached each new batch of student helpers as they entered the gym, explaining that 960 million people go hungry each day. Worldwide, 30,000 people die every day from hunger-related issues; 16,000 of those are children. “This is to help hungry people,” said Emily Zaremba, 6, who carried completed food packets to be sealed. “I like it.”

Through school feeding programs, children have an incentive to attend school and receive at least one warm meal each day, said Stop Hunger Now CEO Rod Brooks. That leads to school enrollment doubling or tripling, with the majority increase in the female population. Education leads to females bearing fewer children, which positively affects the infant mortality and maternal health rates, he said.

Emily Morrel, 16, is president of Cary Christian School’s Interact, a division of local Rotary clubs. She worked to weigh packages to ensure consistency. “I love serving, and doing this has made me feel like I’m being useful,” she said.

Brooks stood by listening to the gong chime for each 1,000 meals and the streamlined process moved along without a hitch. “Over 40 percent of the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day, and last year, the price of rice increased by 80 percent,” he said, adding that a “perfect storm” of less-than-ideal climactic conditions and increased cost of oil, which affected transportation and fertilizers, led to a huge increase in the cost of food. “Hunger is not a resource issue; what’s missing is the will to end hunger,” he said.

As he watched kindergartners scoop rice, Brooks said, “Hopefully these will be the future leaders who will help end hunger.”