Business Week isn’t all about giveaways and food for the Ivy College of Business. Business Week is also about giving back.

Once again students, staff and Deloitte volunteers packed meals for charity with Meals from the Heartland Wednesday.

Meals from the Heartland is a non-profit organization that many in Iowa are familiar with because it began in Iowa. “The inspiration for the Meals from the Heartland effort began with a 2007 food-packaging event held during Lent by a church in West Des Moines, Iowa,” according to their website.

After that, the event grew into a charity. With the help of a few community leaders and many volunteers, Meals from the Heartland was established in Des Moines. According to the website, their first Annual Hunger Fight packaged more than four million meals and was completed with the help of more than 12,000 volunteers within a week.

The organization’s mission is to empower people to save the starving. Since 2008, Meals from the Heartland has provided over 130 million meals to hungry people in Iowa and all around the world.

“Students from all over the Ivy College of Business signed up to help, “ Kate Howell, an Ivy College of Business Senior and Ivy Council member, said. “We love helping at Meals for the Heartland and it gives us the chance to talk with Deloitte employees before the career fair.”

Students were able to sign up for shifts to pack the meals. Two shifts were available 2 to 3:30 p.m. and 3:30 to 5 p.m. Walk-in volunteers were also accepted at any time.

This year Deloitte was the sponsor for the event and employees from Deloitte also assisted with the packing of the meals. The Bergstrom Commons in Gerdin was full of volunteers and food ready to be packaged into meals.

“We are packing 10,000 meals per shift and there are two shifts,” said Tim Schnaidt, an Ivy College of Business Junior and Ivy Council member. “So we are expected to pack 20,000 meals.”

The Ivy College of Business has been working with Meals from the Heartland since 2015, making four years of partnership creating a bond between the organization and the business department.

“This event has become more of a tradition,” said Michele Tapp, a member of the Business Week Committee. “They’ve been doing this since before I started, and I’ve worked here for three years.”