Moms Against Hunger

FAQS

1)       What is Moms Against Hunger?  MAH is a relief organization that provides food and supplies to needy families in crisis- around the corner and around the world.

2)      Does MAH receive government funding? We are a private organization and do not receive any government funding whatsoever.

3)      Isn’t the USA Food Stamp Program  enough to feed people?  No ….for several reasons:

• Because of high unemployment and the current economic state of America, there are hungry people all over America that will never be able to qualify for food stamps.  Because when applying for food stamps  a family needs proof of employment such as the  last two ‘pay stubs’.  Also income tax forms from the last year can be required – these totals are used to determine if they ‘qualify’ for food stamps.  Thousands of families do not… because this year’s needs are determined by last years income. Or their last pay check was more than the allowed amount on a chart.  The chart for food stamps is also based on the number of people in the home – regardless of current hunger needs.  Most people do not know these facts  about accessing the food stamp program in America. 

 

•  Finally, it often takes ten days to two weeks for a person to qualify for food stamps.  A family can go hungry until their paperwork is cleared if they qualify.

 

• Often the chronically dependant receive the aid that the working poor cannot receive…. Simply because they are working and their wage earnings are just above the poverty level.

                                  

4)      Can Corporations help Moms Against Hunger?

End of year gifts, overstock and shelf pulls all can be useful in GIK gifts to the impoverished areas of the world.  Together corporate businesses work with Moms Against Hunger  to meet the needs of orphanages, hospices, shelters, charity agencies, and third world hospitals and medical clinics around the world.

Items such as company buy outs that may render stock unused in the new business. Or end of season goods that have become warehouse materials.  There are so many areas that can be used in other countries for useful purposes.   And in turn, our efforts turn unusable goods   just setting in warehouses all over the world,  into aid for others.  Does your Corporation need help in this area?  Contact us.

 

5)      What makes MAH unique?  We carefully interview each family or individual that is requesting assistance.   Once we determine that there is a real need, we act quickly by providing them with  food or a voucher for supplies based on their unique needs.

 

6)      Are gifts to MAH tax deductible?  We are a 501C3 organization. All gifts are fully deductible.

 

7)     When I make a gift to Moms Against Hunger, how much of the money goes to management and how much actually goes to the people?

Our projects are structured so that all fund raising and management costs are covered by separate gifts and grants at this time, freeing the received donations to be used for the procurement and distribution of our programs around the world.  Financial Stewardship of all resources is a primary concern at MAH.

8)      Please tell me why people keep sending money to needs around the world and it never seems to get any better?

Third world countries do not have several  infrastructures firmly in place:

• No systematic form of farming education from government sources for  farmers to learn such as soil types and responses, and systematic management of crops and land.
• No equipment such as tractors, trailers, modern farm equipment to get food supplies from the farms to markets. Farming is still done BY HAND in most areas.
• The road systems are often poorly managed and sometimes impassible - this creates another whole set of issues trying to get supplies to and from markets.
• When crops are grown, many times the poor farmers do not have money for pest control - thus much of the food gets eaten or destroyed by animals, bugs, or fungus issues.
• Droughts sometimes set in, causing further problems as nothing can grow without water.
• If acts of war are in a country - who can farm?  No one dares go out in the fields - they could tragically end up dead or maimed.
• Lands and farms  are often seized by new governments and given to their supporters - which in many cases they may have no experience in agriculture knowledge, and so good farm land goes fallow, and no crops are grown.  

• And the biggest issue of all of these huge problems -  people in poverty have no money to buy food with. 

So you can readily see how food shortages around the world happen quickly. Each one of these subjects is immense and this is why caring and responsible people must give regularly to help vulnerable people in a variety of ways.  

How do women cook in third world countries?

This is how most of the world still cooks their food.... over a wood burning fire.  I have had many meals cooked just like this - it does work, but the smoke often hinders the flavor of food.  Yet no one I have ever seen that has to cook like this... complains.  They accept their hardships with strength and cook what ever they can find to eat.

What is Cholera?

Cholera is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, which affects the intestinal system of the body. An infected person experiences severe vomiting, explosive diarrhea and severe dehydration. Without immediate medical treatment, cholera may result in death within four to twelve hours after symptoms begin. Due to a large loss of body fluids, cholera is gruesome in the way that it leaves survivors in their physical appearance, as well as in the biological toll it takes on the body.

Cholera is very contagious. It is spread by the unintentional consumption of infected feces that contaminate food and water. It can also be spread through human to human contact. Some people have been infected with cholera by eating raw or undercooked shellfish.

Cholera is easily treated with fluids and antibiotics. When antibiotics are unavailable, which is commonly the case in areas that are plagued by cholera, a simple mixture of water and glucose for rehydration is life saving. Cholera usually resolves itself after a period of time; the danger is the severe dehydration that quickly causes death.

Similar to the bubonic plague which has showed its face time and again, cholera is a plague that is suspected to be an ancient disease. It has unquestionably reoccurred in seven pandemics since 1817, including in Europe and the United States. The most recent pandemic began in Asia in 1961 and continues to the present day in Africa.

In developing countries, cholera is prevalent in areas that do not enjoy sanitary living conditions because of poverty and a lack of resources. In pandemic regions, even sanitary conditions may not prevent further outbreak. Many people do not receive information on how the disease is spread, fear seeking medical help or simply do not have access to any kind of treatment.

Cholera is not common in developed countries due to the availability of medical treatment, regulated heath standards, clean water and effective sewage systems. Cases of cholera in developed countries are the result of raw shellfish or people who have contracted the illness while traveling. Those traveling to countries that have cholera epidemics should take careful precautions to prevent infection.

Precautions for travelers include boiling water before drinking or washing. Water can also be treated with chlorine or iodine. Frequent hand washing with clean water, especially after using the toilet, is imperative. Travelers are also advised to ensure their food is fully cooked and hot, peeling their own fruit and avoiding raw vegetables, including salads. Raw and undercooked shellfish should also be avoided.

Article by www.wisegeek.com

 

How much of my donation actually gets to the people?

Q. How much of the money goes to management and how much actually goes to the people?

A, Our projects are structured so that all fund raising and management costs are covered by separate gifts and grants at this time, freeing the received donations to be used for the procurement and distribution of our  programs around the world.

How Agri-Food Corporations Make the World Hungry

Last November the World Summit on Food Security in Rome issued a declaration that the world is now hungrier than ever before. The root cause of this insecurity is the food system itself, which is controlled by a handful of global monopolies.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 13, 2010 – In fact, the crisis comes at a time of record global profits for the world's agri-food corporations. Archer Daniel Midland, Cargill, Monsanto, General Foods, and Wal-Mart all posted profit increases in 2008 of 20% to 86%. For Mosaic, a fertilizer subsidy of Cargill, profits increased by a stunning 1200%.
The World Food Summit did nothing to confront the hunger crisis. The lack of any political will in Rome was so low that not one head of state from a G-8 country showed up (except for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who of course lives there). With a shocking lack of commitment the G-8 representatives decided to drop the goal of ending world hunger. Now the rich countries need only work to halve hunger by 2015.
In a situation with many parallels, in November the US Department of Agriculture reported an alarming increase in food insecurity in the US; one in seven Americans don't get enough food throughout the year. The USDA report refers to household food shortages, yet in the US, as in the world, there is no food shortage. An obvious question comes up: why, in the most productive farming country in the world, do we have so many hungry people? The answer is that families simply don't have enough money to buy the food they need.
The reasons for this aren't hard to find. The nation's food workers make up 18% of all workers in the US. But those who pick, process, pack, and serve our food are the lowest paid of any industry. This is analogous to the global situation, where most of the world's hungry are poor farmers. In both cases women and children suffer the most.
While more than 1 billion people in poor countries aren't sure where their next meal is coming from, many chronically food-insecure countries are selling their land, as Raphael Grojnowski reports in the same issue of Food First News. Sudan, Ethiopia, and Cambodia, for example, have already sold nearly 40 million hectares of their best agricultural land to foreign investors, mainly from the Middle East, China, and South Korea. This is a classic imperialist land grab that, like those familiar from the past, leads to a steady deterioration of the condition of human beings, not to mention degradation of the environment.

Spurred by the global food-price crisis and supply shortages in the volatile world food market, wealthy but food-deficient countries are buying up vast tracts of land, especially in Africa. There they expect to grow food and fuel long distance. Promising new technologies and employment to some of the world's most neglected areas has many poor governments rushing to attract these new investments.
These land deals are negotiated in total secrecy and are having devastating effects on local farmers and their families. To make room for the new foreign mega-farms, small farmers are being dispossessed of their land. In their place, huge monoculture plantations to feed foreign consumers are being established, using industrial farming techniques that have extremely damaging environmental effects, such as chemical contamination of rural water supplies.
While many peasant organizations are relentlessly drawing attention to this devastating land-grabbing, the UN and other agencies have been characteristically slow to act. At last year's World Food Summit three UN agencies and the World Bank finally announced plans to draft a code of conduct for such "foreign land acquisitions."

But the proposed guidelines are only a non-binding and voluntary code. Worse yet, its implementation is scheduled for late 2010, leaving investors another year to make secret deals for prime agricultural real estate overseas.

Can Corporations help Moms Against Hunger Projects?

 

Moms Against Hunger has at it’s heart, the Archbishop  Gregory Holley who supplies his expertise and knowledge in helping Corporations find a solution for their goods.  End of year gifts, overstock and shelf pulls all can be useful in GIK gifts to the impoverished areas of the world.  Together corporate businesses work with Moms Against Hunger  to meet the needs of orphanages, hospices, shelters, charity agencies, and third world hospitals and medical clinics.

Items such as company buy outs that may render stock unused in the new business. Or end of season goods that have become warehouse materials.  There are so many areas that can be used in other countries for useful purposes.  

And in turn, our efforts turn unusable goods   just setting in warehouses all over the world,  into aid for others.  Does your Corporation need help in this area? Contact us.

What does it take to help others?

I book time to attend various Conferences to touch other leaders and see what is happening in the aid to the nations of the world.  Sometimes I am encouraged to find others also busy working for the good of humanity.  Other times I am bored and wish I was elsewhere as all I hear is talk.  

Finding people who are willing to do more than talk is sometimes a challenge.  Talk is so easy, complaining is so rampant and pointing the blame at others, governments and politics is common.  Yet none of these do anything to help fix the problems.  So again we leave to go back to the fields of suffering people...... alone from another conference.  It's ok  I get the joy of arms around my neck hugging me and thanking me for helping them, but so much more could be done if others would step in. 

What does it take? 3 things

1.Compassion and care.

2.Work and sweat

3.Love for humanity.

Question about people in poverty

Dear Dr Gayla

Please tell me why people keep sending money to needs around the world and it never seems to get any better?

Thank you for your question.  There are several reasons why. 

Third world countries do not have several  infrastructures firmly in place like

• No systematic form of farming education from government sources  for  farmers to learn by, such as soil types and responses,  and crop management.
• No equipment such as tractors, trailers, modern farm equipment to get food supplies from the farms to markets. Farming is still done BY HAND in most areas.
• The road systems are often poorly managed and sometimes impassible - this creates another whole set of issues trying to get to markets.
• When crops are grown, many times the poor farmers do not have money for pest control - thus much of the food gets eaten or destroyed by animals, bugs, or fungus issues.
• Droughts sometimes set in, causing further problems as nothing can grow without water.
• If acts of war are in a country - who can farm?  No one dares go out in the fields - they could tragically end up dead or maimed.
• Lands and farms  are often seized by new governments and given to their supporters - which in many cases these people have never farmed, and so good farm land goes fallow, and no crops are grown.  

• And the biggest issue of all of these huge problems -  people in poverty have no money to buy food with. 

So you can readily see how food shortages around the world happen quickly. Each one of these subjects is immense and this is why caring and responsible people must give regularly to help vulnerable people in a variety of ways.