I have a particular interest in the problem of hunger. Not that I'm generally hungry, in fact, I don't get terribly hungry most of the time. Hunger is strange. Most of us have never felt it much. My father decided a few years ago that in order to understand what being hungry was like, he would just not eat one day a week. He did it for quite some time. What he discovered was sort of interesting. He ate well enough most of the time, that in some 18 months, he was only really uncomfortably hungry a few times. Most of the time, a cup of tea was enough to make the sense of hunger go away.
I really don't like the idea of people not having enough to eat. I don't like the idea of people in crisis, temporary or long term, going without food.
What I love is that more and more, there are stunningly simple ways to be part of a movement to feed the hungry, online. Whole online communities or even just quick site hits. The Hunger Site gives food away every time someone clicks a link on their site. Business donate the food in exchange for eyes on their ads. Sojouners' Jim Wallis has been beating the drum that hunger in the world is a moral issue. Yesterday I got an ad for a new group I hadn't seen before called Bread for the World which has the tagline Seeking Justice Ending Hunger. It's a group that shows you how to lobby politicians, among other things, to approach the issue of hunger. Bread for the World has a page of links to other organizations looking to end poverty and hunger. There's a great online community collaboration site sponsored by the World Bank with the header "Connect - Collaborate - Change your world." Just another great way that online communities of people are getting together, collaborating, sharing ideas, working together to hit an issue.
