Food for Thought's Walk for Plumpy'nut
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the problem:
As kids, most of us grew up loving peanut butter. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter and celery, peanut butter cookies - that lip-smacking, sweet-smelling spread was a staple of childhood. Today, however, peanuts have a new purpose; they're more than just an ingredient in a tasty treat. Peanuts have been revolutionized to save the lives of children suffering from severe malnutrition.
Plumpy’nut is a peanut-based Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) that provides critically malnourished children with a high protein and high-energy meal. Peanut paste, vegetable oil, powdered milk, powdered sugar, and essential vitamins and minerals are combined and sealed in a foil packet to create this lifesaving formula. Not only is Plumpy'nut easy to distribute, but it has a shelf-life of two years, is cheap, and amazingly fast-acting. By eating just two packets a day for three weeks, a child can be restored to a healthy weight.
The Walk for Plumpy'nut is hosted by Food for Thought, a student-founded organization dedicated to improving the lives of children around the world who lack access to quality nutrition and education. Through our annual Walk for Plumpy'nut, we raise money to provide children in Ethiopia with this much-needed RUTF. To date, we have raised over $16,000 to fight childhood hunger in Ethiopia. Although Plumpy'nut may have a silly name, it's power to save thousands of young lives is nothing short of amazing.
For more information on Plumpy'nut, check out our blog www.plumpynutpress.wordpress.com!
vital stats:
people impacted:
1,000people involved:
30why it's important:
Since the Walk for Plumpy'nut's inception, we've kept Kofi Annan's quote at the heart of all we do: “In a world of plenty, ending hunger is within our grasp. It is time to do what we have long failed to do…eliminate hunger from the face of the Earth.”
Food for Thought is spurred to action by the fact that there are enough resources to improve a child's access to quality nutrition. Plumpy'nut is used to treat children ages 5 and under, the most critical age to address malnutrition. Ethiopia is a country that suffers from devastating rates of childhood malnutrition. All funds raised through the Walk for Plumpy'nut are donated in support of Concern Worldwide's therapeutic feeding stations in Ethiopia.
Through the Walk for Plumpy'nut, we aspire to spark the motivation and inspiration in students to help children in a regions of the world plagued by famine. We hope to inspire people of all ages to not only take an interest in food security issues, but empower them to think critically about and implement solutions that will bring about change. Because Food for Thought events are organized and hosted by students, we seek to empower our peers to witness the impact that they themselves can have on enacting change.
the plan of action:
Food for Thought will continue to host the Walk for Plumpy'nut as long as the need is present. This year marks our 5th annual walk; we hope to celebrate its anniversary by passing the $20,000 mark.
The Walk for Plumpy'nut is just one of many events hosted by Food for Thought throughout the year. We host Rise up for Rice, an educational and fundraising event that gathers students together to play freerice.com. While students play this online game to donate grains of rice to the World Food Program, we solicit corporate sponsors to make matching donations to the local food bank. We also host a Hunger Banquet, documentary screenings, Millennium Development Goals workshops, and fundraisers to support girls' education and other poverty-related issues that impact children. Food for Thought members meet weekly to discuss and debate global issues. It is our hope that through these events and meetings, we inspire and empower students to actively engage their community, think critically about social justice issues, and explore ways to spark change on both a local and global level.
how you can get involved:
Want to start a chapter of Food for Thought at your school? We'd love to get you involved! Chapter starter kits are available to any college and high school student who is interested in starting a chapter of Food for Thought. These kits have all the tools necessary to create a Food for Thought chapter at your campus or high school and are complete with a step-by-step guide, sample posters and donation requests letters, ideas for events and helpful hints. Please let us know if you are interested and we will send a chapter kit your way immediately!
If you are interested in joining us in our mission to improve the lives of children around the world, contact us at icfoodforthought@gmail.com. Ideas, comments, suggestions and donations are always more than welcome. We would love to speak with you and hope to work with you!
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