Kids Against Hunger fills bellies at home and around the world
Kids Against Hunger Canada has given out more than 3.5-million meals in Haiti and in local communities from its Peterborough warehouse.
It all began when the founder Carl Nabein watched a commercial for Kids Against Hunger U.S., and was confronted with how to help people dealing with food insecurity locally and globally.
“Is it better to bring fish to children? Or is it better to teach them how to fish when they're dying? They can't fish on their own,” said Nabein.
His late-night call to make a donation turned into the creation of Kids Against Hunger in Canada.
The organization receives food and money from churches and groups such as Rotary, then ships the food where it’s needed most.
Rotary Clubs host food packing events, where they make meal packs: a full day’s nutrition for six people. The food ingredients include rice, fortified vegetable protein, dehydrated vegetables and a special blend of 21 vitamins & minerals.
The food packs are then sent to local food banks and shipments across the globe, including Haiti.
Haitian women are paid to cook it, which helps to ensure the food does not get sold on the black market for extra money.
According to Nabein, it is typical for Haitian people to only eat three meals a week. With the help of Kids Against Hunger, they get a few extra meals.
Kids Against Hunger relies strictly on donations and receives no government funding. It gives two-thirds of the meals to developing countries and one-third to local food banks, missions and First Nations.
This makes Rotary Club donations important to completing their charitable work. In 2021, the Rotary Club of Whitby supported Kids Against Hunger with a $2,000 donation.
“Rotary has been huge for us. I can't say enough good things about Rotary. They've been amazing,” said Nabein.