Unite For Hunger And Hope

As always, I am blogging for a better tomorrow. As you all know, people across the globe go to bed hungry every single night. It is estimated that 963 million people across the world are hungry. Not a pretty number, not at all. Ready for an even uglier statistic? One child dies every 5 seconds from hunger-related causes.

Hunger is the most extreme form of poverty and manifests itself in many ways other than starvation and famine. Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness. Countries with a large hunger problem are usually poor and often lack the social safety nets we enjoy, such as soup kitchens, food stamps, and job training programs. However, don't let those safety nets fool you into thinking people in Industrialised nations are safe from hunger. Check out this table of poverty and hunger statistics for each State in the U.S. Not pretty. I'm assuming that most of these poor are minorities, the elderly - and children. 

Most Americans take for granted the basic human necessity of having shelter, food and drink. And even more point the finger and blame the person for their situation. However, I have learned in my social work classes that you absolutely cannot lump people together. Every single person has a different story to tell, and every single situation is unique. We should not be turning our noses down at the poor. Instead, we should be admiring them for SURVIVING!

Now is the time to take a step back and really thank your lucky stars that you are in the position you are. You should also think about volunteering at a local food bank, soup kitchen - or even pitch in during the holidays. Trust me - there is always someone around who could really use a nice hot bowl of chow.

Click to Give @ The Hunger Site