Due to the pandemic outbreak so much have been lost and taken from us. Employment, school, business operations, and more have been temporarily put to a halt. At the same time, some are still unable to continue even if lockdowns were to ease. Travelling abroad has also been restricted to some countries. A graver impact of COVID-19 lies on the hunger and malnutrition children face due to the pandemic.
World Hunger and Acute Malnutrition
As mentioned, many have lost their source of livelihood. Without it, they are pushed further down the poverty threshold with no money to buy food. Countries that face crisis-level acute malnutrition and food insecurity include Yemen, South Sudan, Northeast Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries have also been conflict-affected over the years. With the pandemic crisis still at hand, experts project world hunger to have an additional 130 million people just this year.
Underfunded Efforts
Even before the pandemic, there had already been severe funding gaps, but because of the virus outbreak, according to the UN, they need an additional $2.4 billion investment to prevent and treat malnutrition. This would consist of compel nutrition interventions from treatment, vitamins, food, and breastfeeding.
What can you do?
Commit to the cause of nutrition. Donate to foundations that address hunger, especially in children. There are multitudes of foundations and organizations you can choose from that work on feeding hungry kids. If you don’t have anything to donate, you can help by volunteering. You can look up various organizations and foundations online, or you can donate to UNICEF.
There are so many ways you can do to help address this issue. You can inform others, make posters about it, talk about it with your friends, share it on your social media accounts, and more. You can also organize fundraisers yourself and donate them to the organizations fighting hunger in children. You can start up a small business or invite small and large companies to contribute.
You can also contact food manufacturers near you and persuade them to contribute to the noble cause. A cloud based manufacturing execution system is often used by food manufacturers to streamline and expedite their production processes. Hence they can easily manufacture a little extra food besides their regular production to assist kids in need. Since this is a noble cause, many may come forward to join you.
Anyway, apart from this, you can also help feed hungry children even when you merely text “food” to 877-877. It may seem too good to be true that only texting you get to help feed the kids, but it’s real.
All over the United States, community groups and schools have managed summer meal sites where children can eat free breakfast and lunch. This was initiated during the summer break for kids whose food depended on the breakfast and lunch programs that schools have for their pupils and students. As schools go on summer breaks, an estimated 4 million children in the United States do not have enough to eat without relying on schools’ food programs.
This initiative had extended to the pandemic crisis. With parents losing their jobs and businesses, they have less money or even have none at all. So whether you have money to donate or none, you can simply text the code word to the number to help hungry kids. It’s just a few clicks on your phone, but it already goes a long way in helping address world hunger and malnutrition in these trying times. As the pandemic continues, our support for one another must also remain and grow stronger.