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| Working at the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center has been one of the highlights of my Christmas so far. We even found some 4H stickers on some boxes. |
Back to food…
With this season of giving and all the joy it brings, I
can’t help but think of those who go without. Without food, without clothes,
without enough money to buy gifts for their families. In Dallas this weekend, I
saw several billboards about hunger and the people that suffer with hunger. I’ve
been wanting to write a post about hunger for some time, I think God was
telling me it was time.
Facts about hunger
The facts and figures on global hunger are staggering.
·
Hunger kills more people globally than AIDS,
malaria, and tuberculosis COMBINED
·
805 million people do not have enough food to
live active healthy lives (That’s 1 in 9)
·
Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of the
deaths of children under 5.
·
In a world where 1 in 4 kids’ growth is stunted
due to poor nutrition, adding one egg per day can increase a child’s height and
weight by 50%.
But what I find even more amazing are the hunger statistics
in developed countries like the US.
·
49 million Americans are food insecure
·
Almost 16 million children are food insecure
nationally (about 1 in 5 US kids)
·
Arkansas tops the list in the percentage of food
insecure households, followed by Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, and North
Carolina (hits a little too close to home, doesn’t it?)
·
In the US, 4.8 million seniors are food insecure
(about 8%)
What can be done?
Obviously, you can give to your local food bank or food
pantry. Kids have canned food drives all the time, and it’s really easy to send
a few cans of green beans or corn. However, remember that the most expensive nutrient is protein. It may cost a
little more to send canned chili or stew, meaty soups, tuna, pasta with meat balls, Vienna Sausages, or even peanut butter, but it will be much
appreciated. Protein helps people fill fuller longer and helps kids learn.
Several lists of things food banks need have been making the
rounds on social media, check out these from Second Harvest Food Bank, Buzz Feed, and
KORD
Radio. Of course, monetary donations can have a bigger impact than food
because food banks can buy exactly what they need, and they can buy food at
discounted prices.
Dairy farmers like my friend Carrie
work with Feeding America to provide families local milk. You can donate to
their cause with a simple text.
To combat global hunger, Heifer
International gives people in developing countries livestock to raise for
milk, eggs, and meat. For as little as $20 you can donate a flock of chickens
or geese to a struggling community. One summer, our church raised enough money
to purchase a heifer. Samaritan’s
Purse has similar programs that give goats and other farm animals to
families in need. This kind of giving empowers people to provide for themselves
and stimulated the economy in the impoverished communities.
You can volunteer.
Call the local
food bank or food pantry to find out when they need helpers. Give time to the
Salvation Army.
Locally, we have Cobblestone
Farm where food is grown to support hungry families in the community.
Volunteers come throughout the year to plant, tend and harvest crops that given
to local folks in need or sold to fund their other giving programs.
The easiest way to help is to spread the word.
- Talk about hunger.
- Share these statistics with you friends and family.
- Like and follow some of these groups on social media and share their message.
Awareness of the issue is the first step to starting to
solve the problem.
I can’t imagine not having enough money to provide food for
my kids, especially during Christmas. It just breaks my heart to think of
people going through this joyous holiday season with the worry of not having
enough to eat.
Think about ways you can help.
Share in the comments
what you and your family do to combat hunger locally, nationally, and globally.
