Skip to content
Assembly lines of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and vitamin packets stretched across 10 Unifi sites in the U.S. and India on Oct. 23. When the last box was sealed, employees had packed 185,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger, an international humanitarian non-profit organization focused on ending global hunger and supporting underserved populations through nutrition, education, and economic empowerment.
This was the company’s fifth annual packaging event and its largest yet. Teams packed meals at 10 sites:
- Unifi’s corporate headquarters in Buckhead
- Unifi’s training facility in Hapeville, Ga.
- Operational sites in Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), New York (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL), San Diego (SAN) and San Francisco (SFO)
- Gurugram, India
The shelf-stable meals will go to families and communities facing food insecurity around the world.
“At our first event in 2022, we packed 15,000 meals. This year, we packed 185,000,” said Ying Zou McPherson, president of North America at Unifi. “But the most meaningful part isn’t the number of meals. It’s seeing our people come together, year after year, to do something for others. Every meal packed represents someone taking time to care about a person they may never meet. That’s how we bring our values to life—not just through the work we do, but through the difference we make for others.”
Five Years of Growing Impact
Unifi’s partnership with Rise Against Hunger began in 2022, and its annual meal total has grown more than 12-fold since then:
- 2022: 15,000 meals
- 2023: 30,000 meals
- 2024: 90,000 meals across six sites in the U.S. and India
- 2025: 161,136 meals across 10 sites in the U.S. and India
- 2026: 185,000 meals across 10 sites in the U.S. and India
The meals address immediate hunger needs. They also support Rise Against Hunger’s long-term work in sustainable agriculture, clean water and economic development.
“What started as a single event has become a tradition our teams look forward to every year,” said Jackie Reedy, vice president of corporate communications at Unifi. “In five years, Unifi team members have packaged nearly half a million meals for families in need. Through Rise Against Hunger, those meals help communities build toward food security that lasts. We look forward to increasing our impact even more in 2027.”
