Child Hunger

923 million people across the world are hungry.

Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes - one child every five seconds. (Bread for the World.)

I was going to look up more statistics, but I don't think that I have to - one child every five seconds.

Here are several ways that you can help.

Sponsor a Child.
There are several organizations that let you sponsor a specific child in a specific country. I am most familiar with World Vision. For $30 a month you can sponsor a child living in poverty. For $35 a month you can sponsor a child living in poverty in a community severely affected by HIV/AIDS. When you sponsor a child through World Vision you are providing clean water, heath care, educational opportunities, nutritious food, and spiritual training. World Vision has an excellent track record of financial responsibility. 86% of the funds go directly to the children and families. The other 14% goes to fund raising and administrative costs. They received a 4 star (out of 4 stars) rating from Charity Navigator.

You can also sponsor a child through Compassion International. For $32 a month you will provide a child clean water, heath care, educational opportunities, nutritious food, life-skill training and spiritual training. Compassion International also has an excellent financial track record. 83% of the funds go directly to the children and they also received a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator.

International Child Care. This organization only got a 2 star rating and from what I can tell it's because they don't have the financial tools to sustain long-term growth. This could change with the right gifts. I have heard good things about this organization from people who work with them. For $21 a month you will provide a child with food, education and medical care.

Give to Relief Organizations.

Bread for the World. 4 star rating.
They look for ways to stop the causes of hunger in the U.S. and around the world.

CAMA Services. 4 star rating.
"CAMA provides a variety of relief and development ministries that flesh out the good news of God’s love for people—body and soul."

Samaritan's Purse. 4 star rating.
They provide emergency relief, community development and seek to "reach hurting people in countries around the world with food, medicine, and other assistance in the Name of Jesus Christ."

Please consider sponsoring a child. Many times these children's lives depend on being sponsored. Please remember that sponsoring a child is a long-term commitment for the life of that child. While you can stop - it will have negative consequences on the child. Most of us can spare $35-70 a month to sponsor one or two children. Please consider it.

600 children died of hunger-related causes in the amount of time it took me to research and write this post.