How You Can Help the Hungry

Yes we cannot carry the world on our backs alone, but that is why we all must participate in helping the world and the developing countries out. Our food is mainly coming from these developing countries because we know that they do not have the power to oppose to this. It is like saying to your child when they get their first job, "You can buy things for yourself now; however, you are to pay me 3/4 of each paycheck."

We cannot change this? That is a lie. 95.5 million dollars is spent on weight loss products while only 31 million dollars, less than 1/3 of money spent on weight loss products, will be enough to support and feed the hungry in those developing countries. 25 000 chilren die EVERY DAY from hunger and diseases that they could have prevented. Certainly some people are thinking "Well, this doesn't affect us," but what if this was happening here? It would be a different story. We would want help. We would be crying for our dying children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, etc. I'm not saying that we have to suppot these countries as well as our own even when they are on their way, but if we teach them to be able to sustain themselves and give them a headstart on this, we can stop these people (Note: I said people. This is no board game or computer game, it's peoples LIVES we are talking about) from dying and suffering and going to bed with the feeling of hunger. Not the hunger we experience when we haven't eaten anything in a couple of hours and our stomach feels hungry. This kind of hunger id the kind of hunger where your stomach is past the point of growling and you feel weak, shakey, and helpless.

It's easy to help people in these countries, just donate at least two cans in every food drive. Even baby food will do which is 49 cents. Or those Mr. Noodles. Get a case of twnty for six dollars. You can also raise money; reduce your waste by not overspendng when you go to the grocery store; be a concious shopper; put up posters, ads, etc around your communtiy to raise awareness and buy from local farms. At the most, each task would take five minutes to do. It is not hard to look for ways to help these countries.

The people who refuse to help or say there's nothing that we can do are just quitters. If they aren't quitters, they are lazy. Don't be that kind of person. Stand up for these dying PEOPLE. Their lives are at stake, and you can help them so don't doubt for one second that you can't because just by doing this, it will start a chain reaction if you make this a habit. You can change the world. Be the change you'd like to see in the world.

JS 8:26PM November 07, 2009

In 1985 I spent half of the 25,000 my Grandmother left me to support the efforts of LIVE AIDE. It's 2008 and I know for a fact that my money and the money of million of others around the world did NOTHING to help the dying mothers and children of Africa..And this WILL NOT CHANGE! Africa is hanging on by strings and has been for DECADES...YOU CAN NOT DO ANYTHING TO CHANGE IT. Try if you must ...you'll be wasting your time and money.

Sally of CO 11:35AM June 07, 2008

Sorry, ChristmasTree, I was not referring to missing the point of your comment, I was referring to Elizabeth's comment about Hungry/Hungary/terrorists/drugs and the beatles. I suppose since I don't live in Europe, I miss the point completely - which apparently I have.

I agree with you that birth control (and women's health in general) is largely ignored and is probably one of the many solutions to helping with overpopulation in the world. I'm not an expert in the field, though, and I'm sure there are lots of layers to this such as how to pay for said pills and distribute them to on a regular basis to towns and villages that take days to reach. I've heard that even getting vaccines and medicines to those remote places is a huge challenge, but again, not an expert in this field.

What I can comment on is what I can see right here in our hometowns, where people are losing their jobs, gas prices rise, minimum wage doesn't cover basic expenses and families can't put food on their tables. There are problems that seniors face with buying food or paying for medicine, homeless shelters are bursting and mental health facilities are closing because funding is being slashed.

I'm not in a position to demand that the UN solve the world's overpopulation but I think we all have a different road to follow. Mine is to help those around me the best that I can while I'm here.

You've got a great point and I hope they are listening to you!

Lynn of NC 3:29PM May 27, 2008

I'm not sure what the previous reader was trying to say, but I would like to thank you, Mr. Garber for shedding light on this crisis. I work at a charity that provides food to those in our community and the number of hungry people we serve is alarming. In addition, childhood hunger is another serious issue that I think goes largely ignored.

At my daughter's elementary school, the kids discovered where I worked. Two of them at the lunch table said "oh, we get food from there every week...". The next time I went, three different kids had no money in their accounts for the school lunch (luckily the school has a backup policy of providing fruits and vegetables to kids in these situaitons.) One child had only a cheese sandwhich in a grocery store bag. The next time I visited, my daughter's teacher said that at several kids didn't come to school because their parents just couldn't afford the gas to get them there.

Thank you, Mr. Garber, for pointing out that we can help - we can give time to charities that desperately need help - we can conserve our food consumption - we can can help each other. All is not lost. Yet.

Lynn of NC 9:23AM May 27, 2008