International (MNN) — As February draws to a close, Food for the Hungry urges you to join their Child Survival Campaign.
Urged by aid groups to make cutting world hunger a top priority, the U.S. government provided a grant for Food for the Hungry. Gifts received through February 2009 will be multiplied 19 times. This means that through the end of this month, a gift of $1 made to Food for the Hungry's Child Survival Campaign will result in $19 of food aid.
Yesterday, a merger of aid and development organizations told the Obama administration that in 2010 the U.S. should boost spending on food and agricultural aid by 60 percent.
In 1996, the United States joined other nations in a promise to cut world hunger in half by 2015. Aid groups say that with food prices soaring as a result of the global economic condition, now is the time for follow-through.
"It really is time to bring this to an end once and for fall," said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children.
In the 13 years that have elapsed since the pledge was made, an estimated 54 million children have died from starvation and malnutrition. World Health Organization reports 20 million severely malnourished children worldwide today. Some families in the Philippines drink coffee to supplement for the rice they can't afford, says Food for the Hungry.
"Hungry people around the world don't need members of Congress to feel their pain," said Representative Jim McGovern, a member of the House Budget Committee and co-chair of the Congressional Hunger Caucus. "They want us to help them respond to the crisis."
Food for the Hungry asks you to join them as February draws to a close. If you would like to help desperate families around the world, click here.
