On a Saturday evening at a conference hotel with oodles of other activities in the area, hundreds of participants in the National Black Catholic Congress donned aprons, hairnets and plastic gloves to pack meals for people in need and have a joyous, rollicking good time together.

The event at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, Maryland, on July 22 was organized with practiced efficiency by No Child Hungry, an Orlando-based nonprofit that provides food for children in the United States and around the world. The 75,000 meals packed at the Gaylord by National Black Catholic Congress participants were destined for as close as a shelter in Alexandria, Virginia and other locations including Haiti, said William Lowry, founder of No Child Hungry and the on-site organizer, along with members of his family and other volunteers.

At each of three dozen work stations set up in an exhibit hall, volunteers scooped measured cups of oatmeal, granola, chopped dried apples and nutritional flavorings into packets, which were weighed, sealed and boxed in smoothly operating assembly lines. Each bag contained ingredients for six servings, once water is added. As each box was filled, the team at the table would let out a cheer, keeping a little competitive spirit alive among the teams. The labels on each box noted that they had been packed by the National Black Catholic Congress.

With a lively soundtrack of Christian music keeping up a rhythm, Lowry or another staff member periodically encouraged teams to take a brief break, such as to turn to their neighbor on the assembly line to tell them, “You are amazing!”

Meanwhile Lowry’s daughter, Skye, kept up a brisk business at a photo backdrop, helping volunteers document their snazzy food-packing attire of hairnets and aprons.

While she weighed bags before they were sealed, Gaye Velar from Pittsburgh described the event as “joyful.”

Joseph Aleu of Brooklyn, New York, said “it’s very exciting to be able to work with everybody.”

As she scooped oatmeal into bags, Barbara Johnson of St. Louis said: “Once you get your rhythm going and figure out what you’re doing it’s fun.”

And Lawrence Chukweke of Stockton, California, said the whole system reminded him of what he does for a living. A mechanical engineer by training, Chukweke works in logistics, sometimes designing projects not much different from this one for international organizations. “They did a very good job of planning this. They got it right,” he said.