Giving Tuesday is a global movement of compassion—a chance for us to come together and practice generosity, tackling issues like hunger, which is a constant threat in the communities we serve across Africa and the Caribbean.

Hunger puts life at a standstill for far too many children.

With an empty stomach, how can a child ever hope to do well in school or focus on anything beyond day-to-day survival? How can they even enjoy the simple pleasure of playing with their friends? But today, you can help feed children in places like Sierra Leone, one of the countries where we serve.

 

 

In many communities in Sierra Leone, families have struggled for decades against food shortages caused by the mining of resources like bauxite and rutile, which causes soil erosion and contaminates the land and water, making nutritious food even harder to come by in communities that are already so vulnerable.

These mining practices also greatly affect the many farmers in Sierra Leone. In this country, agriculture is the backbone of the economy, employing over 60% of the population. These are mainly subsistence farmers, just trying to grow enough food to feed their families.

Besides the mining practices that pollute the land, these farmers face:

-Natural disasters

-Lack of access to modern tools and fertilizers

-Generational poverty

All this and more means the vast majority of these farmers don’t produce enough food to adequately feed their families, keeping them stuck in the cycle of poverty.

The World Food Programme reports that 77% of people in Sierra Leone are food insecure, and 26.2% of children are stunted, meaning they aren’t growing strong and healthy as they should.

That’s where you come in.

 

 

 

You have the power to help break these cycles of poverty. We’ve seen it in the stories of children like Laston.

Laston says, “Before Children of the Nations came into my life, I lived without hope.”

He grew up in a family of five children raised by a single mother, and life was a daily struggle. They often only had one meal a day—not nearly enough for a young, growing child.

Concentrating in class was almost impossible, and he was weak and often sick from the lack of food. “Looking back, my life was totally without direction and filled with uncertainty,” he says.

But at nine years old, his life took a turn when he became a part of Children of the Nations, and YOU stepped in. “From that day forward, I began to experience what true care and love felt like.”

Laston now had three meals a day, and he felt his strength returning. He says, “I rarely got sick anymore, and for the first time, I could concentrate in class without worrying about hunger.”

Laston worked hard, graduated high school, and in 2021, he became the first person in his family to graduate college.

Today, Laston works for Children of the Nations as the Village Partnership Program Facilitator in Malawi. He says, “I decided to work for Children of the Nations because I wanted to give back to the same community that raised me and shaped me into the person I am today. This organization became my home when I had nothing, and through its love and support, I found hope, purpose, and a future. I felt it was only right to use what I have gained to help others who are walking the same path I once walked.”

 

 

 

Stories like Laston’s are why we can’t stop now. There are too many children who need the second chance Laston was given.

This Giving Tuesday, will you uplift and empower children with the gift of nutritious meals? Your gift of $40 will provide a child in our Village Partnership Program with two months of meals.

And from now until midnight on Giving Tuesday (December 2), your gift will be doubled by a $15,000 match from a generous donor, meaning your gift will go TWICE as far, feeding a child for four whole months.

Let’s not let this opportunity pass us by. Thanks to you, a child like Laston will be able to say, “My life has been forever changed.”

Give your Giving Tuesday gift today here.

 

By Kelly Flannery, Marketing Writer