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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Kids Against Hunger? Every hour of every day 12 children per minute die of starvation or malnutrition related diseases. The mission of all Kids Against Hunger organizations is to end this tragedy. Kids Against Hunger packages and ships highly nutritious, life-saving meals to starving and malnourished children in developing countries and the United States. We do this by mobilizing the energy and caring of American children, teens, and adults on behalf of hungry children around the world. Kids Against Hunger seeks to end the literal hunger of poor children receiving the meals, but also satisfies a hunger among prosperous Americans, a hunger for meaning and contribution. Kids Against Hunger International is nation-wide packaging network made up of a headquarters facility in New Hope, Minnesota, a packaging division in Mankato, Minnesota, and satellites in 16 U.S. states and Canada staffed by volunteers who package the meals. In total, the packaging network has the capacity to produce over 50 million meals per year. The aim is for our meals to provide a stable nutritional base from which the recipient peoples can move their families from starvation to self-sufficiency. Since its launch, Kids Against Hunger has provided over 100 million meals for children and their families in more than 40 countries through the efforts of over 200,000 volunteers. 2. How was Kids Against Hunger started? The organization was founded in March 1999 by Richard Proudfit, a successful entrepreneur. In 1974 Richard volunteered on a medical mission to Honduras after Hurricane Fifi had ravaged that country. Profoundly affected by the starvation he saw among the children there, he made a decision to commit his life and financial resources to solving the enormous problem of world hunger. His life’s work became clear to him – feed these starving children. TOP 3. What is so special about the food you package?
Seeing is believing:
The specific formula took nearly three years to develop. The rice was chosen because it is so widely recognized worldwide. We use premium long-grain white rice. We chose white rice specifically because of its shelf life. The soy we use is fortified with ten vitamins in addition to the high protein content of the soy. The vegetables provide both color and flavor. The vitamin formula is a proprietary formula and is the “secret sauce” that goes into our food. We provide 21 vitamins and minerals and each bag contains six servings of the dehydrated food which when boiled will serve six children and provide all the vitamins and minerals they need for a day. It provides not just a meal - but better health to starving children. Additionally, our bags are specifically made to be three-ply for strength and they are made of a moisture-proof and odor-proof material to prevent spoilage and insect or rodent problems. Our food has a shelf life of at least three years. 4. How do you decide where the food will be sent? Kids Against Hunger does not usually ship the meals directly to a foreign country. Instead, we rely on the expertise of reliable and trustworthy feeding partners to get the food to its destination safely. We work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in over 40 countries to get our food shipped and distributed. We can only ship to places where we know the food will be properly and freely distributed through an organization that can handle such an effort. Accountability is key - we need to have a good relationship with people we trust to do the right thing, because we can't always be there in the countries we're shipping to when the food is being distributed. Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities is affiliated with a KAH Satellite in Brighton, Iowa. Currently they are shipping to Nicaragua, Honduras and Haiti. There are several other KAH Satellites in Iowa that ship to countries in Africa. Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities meals can be consolidated with their shipments. 5. What about local agriculture? If your food is free, won't that hurt the economy? There is constant communication with our partners on the ground regarding just such an issue. It doesn't do good for us to go into a situation where we're causing harm. Our NGOs will tell us that their region is suffering a drought and the crops have been destroyed, and what little food they do have available is too expensive for the local people. If there is a viable agricultural commodity in an area, the situation wouldn't be desperate enough for an appeal from an NGO, and we take steps to determine the actual need. 6. You sent food to prevent people from death by starvation. What happens when that food is gone? It's not enough to simply fill the stomach and walk away. It's not enough to simply send food. This is why we partner with people on the ground who promote continued sustainability in these regions. What does that mean? Well, it means that some of our partners are setting up schools, teaching the local people how to farm and ways to improve their health. They administer necessary emergency medicines and teach people about proper hygiene and basic first aid. There are many efforts made to teach the local people how to advance so that they are never on the brink of starvation again. We send food to the same places until there is no longer a need. 7. What types of people volunteer to package the food? While the KAH name implies that children are the source of our volunteers, in practice our volunteers come from all age groups and walks of life. Individuals and groups from churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, schools, social clubs, businesses, senior centers, and civic groups are common sources of volunteers for packaging our food. Teens require minimal adult supervision and often plan their own packaging events. Some of the best volunteer experiences come when children, parents, and grandparents work together as a family. Schools and corporations often do packaging with us as a community service event. 8. Can you come to our school, church, business to do a packaging event? Yes, Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities has a mobile unit that will bring the equipment, boxes and food to your location. You are asked to provide 3-5 folding 8'-10' tables. To schedule a packaging event click here:
9. How does the food get to hungry children, and how can you be sure it gets there? We work closely with our distribution partners - churches, nonprofit organizations, and U.S. government agencies operating in poor countries - to distribute the meals prepared by our volunteers. We seek out organizations that have proven track records of successfully getting the food to the children and keeping it out of the hands of corrupt government officials and criminals. We always require our feeding partners to document how they distributed the food and provide us with pictures of the children who receive it. 10. Where have you sent your food? Since Kids Against Hunger started in 1999,
we have shipped food to more than 40 countries. Afghanistan - Angola - Bolivia - Chile -Dominican
Republic - El Salvador -Eritrea - Ethiopia Kids Against Hunger shipped over 1,000,000 meals to the Hurricane Katrina stricken gulf coast region in the USA. Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities will offer meals to food pantries in the Quad Cities. 11. What is Kids Against Hunger religious affiliation? Kids Against Hunger is a humanitarian organization that is not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group (nonsectarian). We do not discriminate on any basis in any way, shape or form. All religions and non-religious groups can volunteer, donate, and help in any way. We feed children from all walks of life. Some of our volunteers and satellites are driven by their love of God and helping to feed all of His children, but all are welcome to help out in any way. We have had volunteers that are Jewish, Muslim, Lutheran, Buddhist, Uteri, Methodist, Catholic, and others. We have had volunteers with no religious ties whatsoever. Despite our various diverse backgrounds, we all want to help feed starving children. 12. Do you require the children you feed to become Christians, or your volunteers to be Christian? Again, Kids Against Hunger is a humanitarian organization. We have only one test to feed a child – ‘Is the child hungry?’ We have only one test for accepting volunteers – ‘Does the volunteer want to help feed hungry children?’ We require any organization that distributes our food to give the food freely out of love for the child without coercion or religious tests. 13. How do you raise money for your food? It costs Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities about 25¢ to buy the ingredients, packaging, and shipping for each meal. That means when a cargo container (285,120 meals) is shipped to a country, it includes $71,280 worth of food. As a nonprofit organization we raise all our funds from the generosity of individual donors, corporations, churches, synagogues, and foundations. Put simply, the more money we receive from donors, the more children we can feed. A team of 12 volunteers at $32 each, can package 1,500 meals in 45 minutes. The modest $32 donations add up. 15. How much of my donation actually goes toward food? 100%, if that is what you want. Simply specify this with your donation. Money raised for Packaging Events always goes to just food. Donations for equipment are also needed. Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities does not have any paid employees, all donations are 100% for the program. 16. Is my donation to Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities tax deductible? Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities is a 501(c)3 organization. IRS Letter of Determination is available upon request.
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