Food Pantries Across the U.S. Suffering Shortages

Today is not a good day to be picking up food from a food pantry, or receiving a meal from a soup kitchen. Due to the increasing cost of food, more people who need assistance, and less government donations, food pantries and soup kitchens across the United States are facing a crisis.

“This is as bare as I have ever seen the shelves,” said Melissa Travis in a press release on the People's Resource Center web site. Travis is the Director of Food Services at the People's Resource Center food pantry in Wheaton, Illinois.

“We just can’t buy the quantities we need to keep the pantry full," she added, "and that, coupled with a 40% drop in the commodities we receive from the Federal Government and the weakening economy, makes a ‘Perfect Storm’ of circumstances.”

Susannah Rosenblatt from the Los Angeles Times reported in January 2008 that there are 44.7 million fewer meals for the needy in California.

Meanwhile, the New York Times pointed out that the Food Bank for New York City--which used to distribute 5.5 million pounds of food per month to food pantries and kitchens--can now only provide 3 million pounds.

Pantries and kitchens across the U.S. depend on the outcome of the farm bill, which will determine how much food the government provides in upcoming years.

The Senate is currently debating the farm bill. Many food pantries may be forced to close if it doesn't pass, such as the Campaign Against Hunger pantry covered in the New York Times.

You can help your community during this time of need. The solution is simple: run a food drive.

Deliver flyers to your neighbors and pick up the food from their doorsteps the next week. Pass these flyers on to your Key Club or other volunteer club at school, and ask them to encourage members to join.

Copy and paste this food drive flyer into MS Word, fill in the blanks, and print out it out for distribution.

Today is World Water Day!

Watch the UNICEF video about World Water day and the Tap Project here. And then check out how you can tap into the movement for clean water around the world.

You can also join the World Water Day walk or the virtual walk here.

According to worldwaterday.net, over one billion people don't have access to clean water. But one dollar donated through UNICEF's Tap Project can provide a child with water for 40 days.

Photo courtesy of www.InvisibleChildren.com/media/photos.

"Invest in Peace": After Devastating 22-Year War, Hope for Peace Finally Emerges in Uganda

Two decades of violence have drenched Uganda in blood. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have captured children, forced them to become soldiers, and brainwashed them with terrible lies. They define training as killing another child, murdering those who refuse to comply. They rub shea nut oil on the children’s skin, and say the bullets will bounce off.

Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), caused this pain and chaos when he seized power two decades ago. He claimed a relation to Alice Lakwena, who allegedly was a prophetess. According to a 2006 BBC News profile, Kony has 50 “wives,” or girls he has abducted. He also insists the LRA is fighting for a government based on the Ten Commandments.

Apparently, Kony overlooks “thou shalt not kill.” 12,000 Ugandan people have perished at his hands, according to a 2005 estimate from The Seattle Times, which does not include the countless Ugandans who have starved or died of disease because of the displacement the conflict has caused.

Hope for an end to this brutal war resides in the peace negotiations between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. They recently established a permanent ceasefire. The LRA agreed and signed the last agenda item on March 1st. They only needed to sign the final peace agreement. But according to Resolve Uganda’s web site, the LRA representatives left and refused to agree on a date for the final peace agreement signing. They demanded that the International Criminal Court, which accused Kony of the unspeakable crimes he has committed, lift their indictments. Now Resolve Uganda reports that the Ugandan government is asking the International Criminal Court to do so, in hopes of restoring peace as a result. Recently, Uganda president Museveni implied that if Kony did sign the peace agreement, the ICC indictments would no longer be valid, according to the Uganda Conflict Action Network.

In the hour of hope, reports surfaced that the LRA rebels supposedly killed 11 people and abducted 27 in southern Sudan. However, according to a March 2008 report from the Sudan Tribune, the leader of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team concluded that the LRA was not in the area during the attacks. Since then, local officials accused the LRA of attacking a town in Central African Republic and abducting 80 people last week. If true, the attack suggests that the LRA may not abide by the peace agreement.

Uganda is closer to peace than it ever has been in the past two decades. During this critical time period, it’s imperative that other nations ensure that fragile Uganda reaches peace and stability, instead of slipping back into chaos. The February 2008 Lobby Day for Northern Uganda was the biggest Lobby Day for an African issue in all of U.S. history, according to Resolve Uganda’s web site. Almost 1,000 people came to Washington D.C. to speak out about what the United States can do about the LRA and the war in Northern Uganda.

A record 23 Senators and 16 representatives from the House signed a letter addressed to the United Nations Secretary General, as mentioned on Resolve Uganda’s web site. The letter, posted on the Democracy in Action web site, calls for “more diplomatic and material support from the United Nations” in Northern Uganda.

Even if long-awaited peace does descend upon Uganda at last, the nation still has a long way to go after decades of inhumane violence and suffering. Lisa Dougan, a Regional Manager for humanitarian organization Invisible Children, traveled to Uganda this past summer and witnessed the tragedy up close.

“My time in Uganda revived in me the understanding of the urgency of the situation there,” said Dougan over the phone this fall. “You see the kind of damage that has been done, especially to the children there. It made me understand how important it is to stay committed to these people and help them heal. There is a potential for another war if the children from the war don’t rebuild their lives.”

Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization that has made groundbreaking improvements in Northern Uganda, is currently encouraging supporters to participate in the TRI Campaign to invest in peace for the Ugandan people.

The TRI Campaign video, available on YouTube, asks, “How much time would you spend to end a war? How much talent would you give to save a life? How much money would you raise to change the world? What if it only cost this much?” A cup of Starbucks flashes in front of the camera.

Invisible Children then urges supporters to give up one coffee a week to donate three dollars to Invisible Children, in order to give peace a TRI.

The video asks: “If you don’t TRI, who will?”

Watch the TRI Campaign video here.

For more information, visit www.invisiblechildren.com/blog or www.resolveuganda.org. To reach your Congress representative regarding action in Uganda, dial (202) 224-3121.

All photos are from Lisa Dougan's trip to Uganda.

What are your thoughts on the situation in Uganda? Leave comments and share your ideas below.

Give an Easter Care Basket to a Kid in Kenya

Regular blog readers will recall stories about Faizo, the child I sponsor through Kenya Children’s Fund. Every Easter, Faizo and the other Kenyan children get a month off from school. To me, time off from school means joyous freedom and a relaxing break, but to these students, it means hunger. Since many Kenyan kids eat the majority of their meals at school, they often return to KCF sick and malnourished at the end of the month.

To combat this hunger, Kenya Children’s Fund started the Easter Care Basket program. They give students care baskets with food and soap for their month-long vacation. Donating an Easter Care Basket through Kenya Children’s Fund is an awesome way to show your love to Kenyan students and help them when they need it most.

With the recent ethnic and political violence in Kenya, these kids need your help to relieve their suffering now more than ever. One basket can prevent malnourishment and thus susceptibility to diseases. One basket can save a life.

Each care basket costs $15 and includes:

• 4 kgs (8 lbs) maize flour
• 4 kgs rice
• 2 kgs (4 lbs) wheat flour
• 2 kgs cooking oil
• 2 kgs sugar
• 500 grams tea
• biscuits
• soap

You can donate to Kenya Children’s Fund through the Teens with a Vision Facebook Cause page or the Kenya Children’s Fund web site. Please donate before March 12 if you’d like your money to go to an Easter care basket.

Recruit your friends through Facebook or e-mail to let them know how they can feed a hungry child this Easter. To see photos of children and their parents with Easter care baskets, click here.