Food parcel packing session

This session can run in your hotel ballroom, your office or a warehouse. We buy staple foods in bulk (rice, bulgur, lentils, pasta, oil, tea, sugar) according to a standard list agreed with a local food bank, and set up packing lines with weighing stations, boxes and labels.

Teams of eight to ten take a line each. They have to plan the flow, weigh portions correctly and pass a quality check before a box counts. Halfway through we change one rule, such as a new item or a shortage, so teams have to reorganise quickly. A volunteer from the food bank explains how parcels are distributed and to whom.

Participants write short notes to go in the boxes. The food bank collects the parcels at the end of the day and confirms delivery afterwards. Ramadan is a particularly meaningful time to run it, and it can be combined with an iftar.