Hungry people cannot be good at learning or producing anything, except perhaps violence.
If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one. -Mother Teresa
rubz:
Raise awareness for the people dying all over the world because of hunger.
Thank you for your powerful message! We are fighting to end hunger at Revolution Hunger.
Intrigued, Inspired and Involved
By Alexcia Jellum
The world’s population is constantly being bombarded with all types of adversity. Nourishment is a fundamental need of humanity, and something that we are all familiar with. Hunger affects the entire world, from tiny, tucked away towns to large cities. There are countless organizations and individuals that have made hunger their personal mission. The issue of hunger is one with many layers and intricacies. Our movement, Revolution Hunger, is giving teens the chance to further diversify the hunger fighting front.
What first struck me about Revolution Hunger’s message was that it recognized that everyone could make a difference. We each have specific talents and passions that we can use to fight hunger. Why not infuse what you’re passionate about with a message? I believe that if you can give the teen population unique ways to get involved they will take that opportunity an run with it. I am excited to get teens Intrigued, Inspired and Involved.
I think of the hunger relief programs in the Twin Cities as a web of food shelves, dedicated individuals, and volunteers. These powerful forces help thousands in my area. The world is plagued with pockets of extreme hunger and each one of us do something to help. I know many creative teens that are eager to find a productive channel for their work. My goal is to get teens in a position to use their talents to fight for this cause. Join me at Revolution Hunger!
Thanksgiving 2011—Megan’s Reflections
I’ve always been someone who’s pretty pessimistic about Thanksgiving. In my early education I was taught that Thanksgiving is a celebration of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans coming together, reconciling their differences, and becoming the best of pals over cranberry sauce and turkey dinner. As a child, I remember really getting into the tradition and feeling a sense of pride during Thanksgiving dinner with my family.
Imagine my surprise when I learned how pilgrims had, in fact, destroyed indigenous populations and stolen the land American Indians called home. I felt absolutely betrayed and angered, not only at the atrocities committed but at an education system that had lied to me until they decided I was mature enough to handle the truth. Ever since, I’ve just had a hard time getting into the tradition. It just seemed so hypocritical to celebrate one tiny part of history while ignoring hundreds of years of genocide.
This year, however, I want to change my perspective on the holiday. While I refuse to forget the true history of Thanksgiving, I’ve accepted that this is an ingrained tradition in American culture. But as part of my acceptance, I propose a new way to celebrate the holiday. Instead of gorging ourselves with ludicrous amounts of unhealthy foods, why not give back to those in the U.S. for whom basic nutrition is a luxury? Instead of using Thanksgiving as an excuse to pig out, let’s really show what we’re thankful for by helping those in need.
I think there is this really dangerous idea in the U.S. that hunger isn’t a big issue here. It’s something other countries have to deal with and if you’re hungry you just must not be working hard enough.
In this below, the San Francisco Food Bank discusses some of these stereotypes and details the true nature of hunger in The City.
Hunger affects people everywhere. Even in the United States. While it might not be as widespread a problem or as blatantly obvious as it is in other countries, hunger remains a serious issue. There are plenty of people in this country who are suffering from starvation and inadequate nutrition. So let’s do something about it. Show how truly thankful you are this year by giving back to those in need.
If you’re in San Francisco, you can support the Food Bank by donating.
If you live outside of the Bay, you can find your own local food bank to support here.
I know I’ll be making a donation this year. In fact, this might just be a new tradition for me. And it’s one that I’m proud to celebrate.
Thanksgiving 2011—Lauren’s Reflections
This year will be my first Thanksgiving away from my family. Instead, I will be spending it with my ‘adoptive’ family- about 30 of my fantastic and close-nit friend group. I love this time of year. A chance to sit back (hopefully amidst the holiday mayhem) and reflect on the things that we do well as individuals, friends, communities and countries, and the things we can improve upon. I am a big believer in not just looking at the challenges that face us, but the ways we can create solutions.
This year, I have been fortunate enough to work on a lot of campaigns and projects, talk to incredible organizers and youth leaders, and have opportunities to build a stronger sense of who I am as a person. One of those projects is working with the Revolution Hunger initiative, and the youth leaders who are making it happen everyday. I am always greatly appreciative of how much creativity, ingenuity, passion and leadership skills young people have in our country- and these young people are constantly discovering new ways to look at our countries and worlds biggest challenges.
One piece that has inspired me, is this video by Oxfam and their GROW program. Just like Revolution Hunger, this project is looking at the root causes of these challenges worldwide, and offers a glimmer of hope in how we can all be a part of that change. I love the way it highlights such diversity and experience, and seeing how we are truly part of a larger global network of humans, fighting for better lives.
Whenever I face challenges in my life, I have come to realize that I have a large network of people to rely on. A community of friends, family, and even those who I don’t know, who inspire me to look beyond the small things and challenge me to think about the bigger things in life, while appreciating what I have. Not all people may have this, and I hope I am to build on the work of many in the past to create a better future for others- a gift that I have been given for being born in the place I greaw up. Through our work at Revolution Hunger, I hope that we can spark a passion inside young people to create not only families and communities who are free from hunger, but create families and communities who give one another support, love and empathy. So while I may not be with family this year, they will be with me in spirit. That’s what this season of gratitude is for me, and I openly and passionately look forward to the future.
Thanksgiving 2011—Tekiah’s Reflections
170 million Turkeys are killed for thanksgiving
100,00 pounds of packaged food are delivered to families
45,500 pounds of turkey are handed out
36 million Americans will go hungry this Thanksgiving
At least 12 million are children
This Thanksgiving, instead of laboring over a stove or trying to get the cranberry sauce just sweet enough, I’m sleeping in late and heating up bread sandwiches all day. No, I’m not kidding. Every year, I have been fortunate to have family members who can afford to buy food (and cook) but there are so many others out here who won’t be able to sit at a table and get stuffed, no pun intended. I’m thankful to be so blessed especially in a time that the country is in need and many are suffering. I thankful for my home, heat, and grandmother, who cares deeply for me. I have so much, but I’m most thankful for seeing students at my school getting excited donating canned goods to school or when everyone pitches in for a ‘Thanksgiving Dinner Table” and I feel so proud. I feel proud of my friends, school, and generation. We can put aside our differences and adversity to come together for a small moment to help others. That’s what I’m thankful for.
Tekiah Jones is the Washington DC New Media Producer for the Revolution Hunger Campaign. Tekiah is a a senior at McKinley Technology High School is planning to study film production and broadcast at Syracuse University.
Thanksgiving 2011—Aaron’s Reflections
This Thanksgiving will be different for me. For most of my life, I’ve spent Thanksgiving at my Grandma’s house in Des Moines, Iowa. So did my whole family—cousins, aunts, uncles and beyond. But my Grandma passed away earlier this year, so on Thursday I’ll sit down for a delicious vegetarian meal with my parents here in Oakland, California.
Reflecting on the Thanksgivings I got to spend at my Grandma’s—there were more than 20—I don’t often reminisce about the food. Not that the meals weren’t great. But the feeling of community, seeing an extended family that’s now scattered across the US, is what sticks with me.
Working on Revolution Hunger, I spend a lot of time thinking about food—why millions of people don’t have enough of it, even though the world has enough food for everyone. But not having enough food doesn’t just mean you’re hungry. It means that you are more likely to have health problems, can’t focus in school, might not have stable housing, and so on.
And folks who don’t have enough to eat don’t have the opportunities to sit down for a meal with the people close to them—something everyone should have, regardless of how much money is in their pocket. I was lucky enough to have these opportunities growing up, at my Grandma’s. So now, this Thanksgiving, I’ll be thinking about people who don’t get to eat with friends, family or loved ones, who may not get to eat at all. I’ll think about hunger fighting programs, like the City of Oakland’s Thanksgiving dinner, how important they are and how much support they need.
Aaron Mendelson is the New Media Team Lead with Revolution Hunger
Thanksgiving 2011—Bianca’s Reflection
For me, Thanksgiving has always been about community, the gathering together of those close to me to celebrate: family, friends, classmates, and partners. I’m lucky enough to be celebrating three Thanksgivings this year: one at home in Pittsburgh with my own family, one with partner’s family in Delaware, and one here in DC with my LGBT family. My “queer Thanksgiving” last week, hosted at American University through the LGBT campus group, Queers and Allies, was an incredible reminder of the amazing family I have built for myself in DC. These friends have supported me when I was frustrated and overworked, celebrated my triumphs, and helped me overcome my failures.
We don’t often think of hunger and the LGBT community overlapping, and activism rarely addresses both issues in the same breath. Yet LGBT people often suffer from the same systemic and societal problems that cause families to go hungry year after year: discrimination, poverty, and homelessness are serious threats for LGBT people, who are sometimes rejected by their families, discriminated against by employers or landlords and denied housing or adequate healthcare. Currently 1138 federal rights are denied to LGBT citizens based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
This is a pretty grim road to go down on a day I’m supposed to be remembering all that I’m thankful for, which is why my LGBT family at Queers and Allies and at my university in general gives me hope for the future. Together, we have built a space for students who can’t be themselves at home for fear of rejection by their families, or for teens that don’t have families to go home to this Thanksgiving. With friends and music and good food, we’ve built a family, a support network, and a safe haven for those who need it in our community. And moreover, these same students now have the strength to turn around and commit their time to activism and service, working to change the system that has disenfranchised them. While I’m thankful to have a family that loves me regardless of my orientation, I’m equally thankful to become family for those who don’t have that unconditional support at home. Giving others strength gives me hope for a greater tomorrow: in fighting hunger, fighting inequality, and bringing an end to the injustices that have hurt those close to us.
You can check out what other American University students at Queer Thanksgiving were thankful for here.
Bianca Palmisano is the Regional Coordinator with Revolution Hunger in Washington, D.C.
Jail and Hospitals
Two weeks ago, me and my fellow Hunger Fighter, Bianca, went to an expo hosted by City Year. Make A Difference Day landed on the same day, so there were many volunteers coming to help out at the DC Family Shelter. Now, yes, we did promote Revolution Hunger, our booth had much information, was the most colorful, and if I may say so my self, had the best takeaways! And we checked out the many activities going on within the shelter and who was helping out.
We also noticed a few things around the shelter that were HIGHLYYYYYYYY disturbing. For one, the shelter was originally the public hospital. After switching to a shelter, it was never remodeled or made to even look like a home. Because that’s what it is, a home. There were still rooms that look like check up rooms and the hallways definitely look like hospital hallways. There was even a faded hospital sign. Trying to preserve history? Yea I bet. On the outside, there were abandoned buildings surrounding the shelter, and there were no signs of turning them into something better. To make matters worse, the DC Jail is directly across the street from the shelter. Yep, so that means that when children come from school, they are coming home to a shelter near the JAIL.
If I had to live like that, it would be obvious that the adults in charge of my circumstances did not care at all. Why they would place a family shelter next to jail, is over my head. Many of the families in these shelters in DC, depend on the shelter for meals and food. For adults without children, many of them are not eligible for food stamps so heavily depend on the shelters and food kitchens to eat. At Revolution Hunger, we’re bringing awareness to issues like this and working to prevent them! We’re stoppin’ the struggle! Of course, you can too, just go to revolutionhunger.org, sign up (you get a free t-shirt ;p), and start some of the activities to help end this issue; make your own rev hunger chapter, host a food drive at your school, or simply tell your friends about some of the facts you learned on the site! Either way, your still helping the fight!
Tekiah Jones is the Washington DC New Media Producer for the Revolution Hunger Campaign. Tekiah is a a senior at McKinley Technology High School is planning to study film production and broadcast at Syracuse University.
Come Watch “Africa’s Last Famine” With Revolution Hunger
A couple weeks back, Tekiah Jones let us know about the show Africa’s Last Famine. Tekiah loved it, and said it tackles some serious issues:
This season, the rains failed, triggering the worst drought in 60 years. 13 million people were affected, 1.8 million Somalis were displaced. Farmers are who weren’t effected, are trying to prepare for next time.
Well, this Sunday, the Revolution Hunger team is going to visit a screening of Africa’s Last Famine in Berkeley, California! We are going to catch the movie for ourselves, and get people excited about the Revolution Hunger Campaign!
If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, come join us. Here’s more info about the screening:
WHEN: Sunday, November 13, 2011, 5:30-7:30pm
WHERE: The David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Ste 280, Berkeley, CA 94704
Tamalpais Room (2nd floor)
RSVP: oxfam.sf@gmail.com.
See you there, Californians. If you don’t live in the area, you can still watch the show online. And get involved and start fighting hunger at revolutionhunger.org!
