Thursday , March 28 2024
In the Season of Giving, what the individual can do to lead the fight against hunger worldwide.

Feeding the Hungry in a Season of Giving

Last spring I wrote an op-ed about the looming famine in the Sahel region of Africa. Drought and conflict were causing massive food shortages for millions of people across at least eight countries.

Humanitarian agencies and donors did take action. Lives were saved. A disaster on the scale of the East Africa famine of 2011 was avoided.

But by no means is the Sahel out of the woods, as hunger still is very much present there. As Rene McGuffin of the World Food Programme says, “The response was effective…but malnutrition rates remain unacceptably high throughout much of the region.”

As this Season of Giving has arrived it’s important to remember what the individual can do to lead the fight against hunger worldwide. Even just going online and playing the game FreeRice can raise funds to feed children in Niger, one of the Sahel countries. The rice will go towards the school feeding program that helps children fight off hunger and be able to get an education.

Imagine if on Christmas Eve or Day people everywhere actually feed children in Niger simply by going online and playing this award-winning trivia game.

There are many different ways you can help. Just this month I sponsored a student from the College of Mount St. Joseph, Elizabeth Paff, who ran and raised money to feed children a life-saving food called Plumpy’nut. This food treats children with severe malnutrition. The donations, some still coming in, go to a non-profit organization called Edesia that produces the Plumpy’Nut and is currently making it for the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad, one of the Sahel countries.

Writing to your representative in Congress asking them to fully fund the Food for Peace program is another significant step. Food for Peace is the U.S. program that responds to hunger emergencies all around the world in a effort to promote stability. Food for Peace funding is part of the Farm Bill which is currently stalled in Congress. If that delay continues Food for Peace funding will run out. To fight hunger at home Feeding America is asking Congress to fund food stamps and the TEFAP program that supports foodbanks.

There is enough food in the world for everyone. Hunger can be defeated here at home and abroad. What can make that happen is within each individual – the holiday spirit of giving.

See also: Feed an Invisible Guest This Holiday.

About William Lambers

William Lambers is the author of several books including Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World. This book features over 50 interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme and other charities discussing school feeding programs that fight child hunger. He is also the author of Nuclear Weapons, The Road to Peace: From the Disarming of the Great Lakes to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Open Skies for Peace, The Spirit of the Marshall Plan: Taking Action Against World Hunger, School Lunches for Kids Around the World, The Roadmap to End Global Hunger, From War to Peace and the Battle of Britain. He is also a writer for the History News Service. His articles have been published by newspapers including the Cincinnati Enquirer, Des Moines Register, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Buffalo News, San Diego Union Tribune, the Providence Journal, Free Lance-Star (VA), the Bakersfield Californian, the Washington Post, Miami Herald (FL), Chicago Sun-Times, the Patriot Ledger (MA), Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail (WV), the Cincinnati Post, Salt Lake Tribune (UT), North Adams Transcript (MA), Wichita Eagle (KS), Monterey Herald (CA), Athens Banner-Herald (GA) and the Duluth News Journal. His articles also appear on History News Network (HNN) and Think Africa Press. Mr. Lambers is a graduate of the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio with degrees in Liberal Arts (BA) and Organizational Leadership (MS). He is also a member of the Feeding America Blogger Council.

Check Also

Amoraa

Music Interview: Amoraa on ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’

"Christmas is my favorite time of year!"