Colleges can help stop hunger crisis

Recently I spoke to a Theta Phi Alpha chapter at Mount St. Joseph University in Ohio, helping them set up a fundraiser for global hunger relief. The students are raffling off Taylor Swift movie tickets to raise donations for Rhode Island based Edesia, which makes lifesaving food for malnourished children.

This is the student’s effort to revive the Crusade for Children fundraiser that fed malnourished kids after World War II.

We need this activism from our colleges and universities during the biggest global hunger crisis since the end of World War II. While hunger is worsening across the globe because of conflict and climate change, funding for food aid is alarmingly low.

Cindy McCain, the director of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) warns "funding for humanitarian relief operations is drying up." "

Deepmala Mahla, CARE USA vice president of Humanitarian Affairs, says there is “a worrisome apathy on the part of donors toward solving a global hunger crisis spiraling out of control."

This is where colleges can make a big difference, to help end that dangerous apathy toward the world's hungry. We need to put the spotlight back on victims of hunger so it becomes a priority again.

There is very little media attention toward hunger abroad, despite the fact that it is the biggest threat to world peace.

We need to hear about the victims of war in Yemen, Sudan, D.R. Congo, the Sahel and other areas that are experiencing severe hunger. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has increased hunger for victims there and for those countries depending on Ukraine’s wheat supply. We need to hear about victims of drought in the Horn of Africa that are desperate for food aid.

If more people are aware of the severe hunger, the more will donate. An educated and informed public will let their representatives in Congress know about the hunger emergencies. The public must set our foreign policy priorities, and fighting hunger must be at the top of the list.

Remember after World War II it was the public that raised donations and awareness about hunger through the Friendship Train, The Crusade for Children, Catholic Relief Services food drives, Silent Guest CARE packages and so many other fundraisers.

In 1946 when famine threatened millions of lives in Europe and Asia after World War II, colleges stepped up to the plate. According to the New York Times, students petitioned to have wheat reduced in their college meal plans in order to increase donations for overseas hunger relief. According to the Times, 75 colleges and universities were involved in this effort to fight hunger.

In 1947 the Chicago Defender reported that Lincoln University students in Missouri donated significant amounts of food to the Friendship Train, which fed France and Italy. Mount St. Joseph University led a robust student driven relief campaign.

College students answered the call to action that fueled the post World War II recovery. Now college students can use their creativity and spirit to raise much needed awareness of this hunger crisis and increase food aid to save lives.

William Lambers partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.”