Fall 2007, Volume 11 Number 3

Table of Contents

Everyone of us who are parents want our children to have the inner power to succeed in their work, their families and their lives.  We want them to know that they can make a difference with their lives, not simply become a cog in a wheel, an unimportant part of some large or small profit-making institution, even a highly paid part.

So many of our young people seem to be bereft of meaning and passion and yet others are passionate about their work and beliefs and find joy in their lives.  What is the difference?  Where is the magic potion for success with happiness?

Fortunately, there is no magic potion but there is some wisdom that can lead to a richer more fulfilled life.  It starts with empowerment, a person young or old who feels that s/he has some power over his/her life and some power to do good to make a difference.

Interestingly, that is also right at the core of the solution to hunger.  At WHY (World Hunger Year) we have always believed that the root cause of hunger is poverty and the root cause of poverty is powerlessness.  Our mission involves helping thousands of grassroots organizations that help to empower people, to give them the proverbial hand-up not merely a hand-out.  Kids Can Make a Difference (KIDS) does not simply give children information about hunger and poverty.  It helps them to ask the WHY questions.  Why is there hunger in a world that can feed itself?  Why is there so much hunger in the United States, the richest country in the history of the world?  Why are women and children the ones who suffer the most from hunger and poverty?  Why are millions of Americans who work full time all year still poor?  Why? Why? Why?  When children learn to ask the WHY questions they will not be prey to the rantings of ideologues or the excuses of politicians.

KIDS helps children to ask the WHY questions but then to take one step further and act in their schools, churches, temples, mosques and in their neighborhoods.  People who join others to act on a problem feel less powerless.  They begin to have hope that they can do at least some small actions that can relieve hunger and poverty: working in a soup kitchen or food pantry, collecting food for a food drive, bringing a meal to an elderly person, all the while asking the WHY questions.  Why do these people need to eat in a soup kitchen?  Why is this elderly person living alone?

The next set of questions are the WHAT questions. What are some other options besides a soup kitchen and a food pantry?  What can the community do to help poor people?  What should the government do?  What can I do?  What can I do when I am an adult?

For years KIDS has helped teach many thousands of children about hunger and poverty but that is just the beginning.  This wonderful program, when used creatively, helps children to experience their own power to make a difference.  In an age when so many people young and old have tuned in on themselves and rarely look beyond their own self interest isn’t it a great gift to help children grow out of that self-imposed shell and become caring productive members of communities?  That is the gift that KIDS offers to children and their families.  May it grow in its power to empower children to take one important step in becoming their best selves.

Bill Ayres is the Executive Director of WHY and along with Harry Chapin co-founded the organization . He may be contacted at bill@worldhungeryear.org. For more information about  WHY, please go to www.worldhungeryear.org

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