A holiday tradition of giving in Kalona continued this month. For two straight days the city of Kalona’s maintenance shop became the canning and distribution headquarters in a fight against hunger. Volunteers from the local community, coordinated by the Mennonite Central Committee’s mobile cannery, worked to can more than 18,000 pounds of chicken to be sent around the world to battle hunger. Those who participated formed an assembly line of sorts to expedite the process with volunteers working on everything from grinding chicken, packing it into cans, sealing, pressure cooking, cooling, wiping cans, boxing the cans, and loading by forklift. While the event didn’t happen last year, it has been a staple of philanthropy in the Kalona community since 2000.