While most Americans will worry about eating too much this holiday season, 16 million of our country’s children live in households that struggle to afford food, according to a 2012 report from the United States Department of Agriculture.

“We hear about ‘food insecurity’ quite a bit, especially after the 2008-09 economic crash, but I think most people don’t have a clear picture of what that means,” says Lois Brandt, a former Peace Corps volunteer and author of “Maddi’s Fridge,” (www.MaddisFridge.com), a children’s picture book that asks the question: what do you do if your best friend’s family doesn’t have enough food?

“Food insecurity means an empty refrigerator. Food insecurity means soda instead of milk. Food insecurity means a child coming to school hungry and unable to focus. Poverty may not look exactly the same in our country as it does in a war-torn region or a developing country, but it is affecting our children and their futures. Sometimes, working parents have to choose between rent and food, medicine and food, or gas and food.

Brandt suggests four things you can do to help prevent childhood hunger.

•  Support non-profit organizations like Feeding America (www.FeedingAmerica.org). Previously known as Second Harvest, Feeding America is a national network of food banks that feeds more that 37 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. It’s the nation’s leading organization for countering hunger and educating the public about this crisis.“Public awareness is important,” Brandt says. “Many people simply do not know that we’re surrounded every day by hungry children.”

•  Talk to your children about childhood hunger and how they can help.  “When I was a child I opened my best friend’s refrigerator to get a snack and was shocked to see it held almost nothing,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do.”As an adult, Brandt says she’s amazed by the number of people who share with her their own stories of childhood food insecurity.“Rather than sheltering your children from this sad fact of American life, talking to them about it can help nurture their compassion and empathy,” she says. “And there’s plenty they can do to help, from making posters to raise awareness, to organizing a food drive at school.”Taking action teaches children that they do have the power and ability to change the world for the better. 

•  Don’t make childhood hunger a political issue. Of course, childhood hunger doesn’t exist in a vacuum; issues like welfare, minimum wage, income inequality and access to health care – all of which are heavily politicized – surround the problem. Whatever your take on these topics, realize that no matter the decisions a parent has made in his or her lifetime, children are innocent and have no control of their family’s circumstances.

•  Volunteer with your family at a shelter or food pantry during the busy holiday season. While serving or cooking food for a holiday-themed meal at a shelter during Thanksgiving or Christmas does not solve the larger problem, it will affect every person whose life you touch that day. Your efforts and kind words can become a fond, lifelong memory for a child, or remind adults that others care and they’re not alone.Volunteering also has personal benefits, not the least of which is knowing that, despite whatever problems you’re facing, you were able to help someone else.  

About Lois Brandt

Lois Brandt is a children’s fiction writer whose work has appeared in Highlights and other fine children’s magazines. Her new book “Maddi’s Fridge,” (www.MaddisFridge.com), illustrated by Vin Vogel, is the first picture book to address child hunger in the United States. It was inspired by Brandt’s childhood memory of opening her friend’s refrigerator and finding only condiments and a lunch milk carton her friend had saved from school for her little brother. Ten percent of proceeds from sales of “Maddi’s Fridge” go to hunger solutions. Brandt, who holds an MFA from Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa.

The post What Sad Statistic Do More than 20 Percent of American Children Share? appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

A note from AKA Mom Associate Publisher, Wendy Manning:

I was recently invited to my first Trades of Hope home party at a friend and neighbor of mine’s house. I was truly inspired by the idea behind this company. I hope you will read the article below and be inspired to make a difference in the life of another. The uplifting feeling of helping someone will definitely make a difference in yours! Please help spread the word about Trades of Hope.

While attending a candle party, Holly Wehde of Palm Coast, Florida had an inspiration:  If candles and kitchenware can get into every home in America through home parties, why not use a home party business to help women all over the world out of poverty? And that is how Trades of Hope began.  It’s a mission AND a business which creates a market for exquisite handcrafts such as scarves, jewelry, baskets, wall hangings, purses, etc.

Trades of Hope is NOT a typical “party” business where mass-produced items are sold to benefit only the manufacturer and the saleswomen.  Here’s the difference:  the women who create Trades of Hope products are real people with real needs.  They are women who love their children, but who, through no fault of their own, have not been able to feed and clothe those children.

Trades of Hope works through fair trade organizations, ensuring that artisans are paid fair wages, which gives them the opportunity to improve their living conditions and provide for their families.  Women are being rescued from the sex trade, sweatshops, slums and extreme poverty.

The “party with a purpose” and the idea of “women helping women” has been warmly embraced by customers.  Each Trades of Hope item comes with an attached card stating where it was made and telling something about the artisan.  These products make wonderful gifts, as the giver is giving twice….once to the gift recipient and once to the artisan.

The following is a message from a Trades of Hope artisan who lives in Bangladesh:

“My name is Shova. I am 35.  My only son died of a fever when he was four.  My husband did not earn enough money to feed us so he left me and I had to move in with my brother.  Before I started making products to sell we did not have proper clothes or food. Our house was a mud hut. Now I make more than most people in my community and I send my brother’s children to school. I receive respect now and other women ask for my advice. I must give a message to those who buy my baskets and journals. Thank you for understanding our sorrow and situation. You have given us food and shelter and respect.”

Since its inception in September, 2010, Trades of Hope has acquired 90 representatives (Compassion Entrepreneurs) in 21 states, and continues to expand. The company also gives back 10% of sales in Gifts of Hope, buying sewing machines for women Haiti, and chickens, goats and pigs for women in Africa, thus enabling them to further improve their lives and become self sustaining.

 To learn more about Trades of Hope, visit www.tradesofhope.com. 

*Information above was provided by Deborah Adair – Compassion Entrepreneur in Tennessee. Deborah Adair is selling Trades of Hope as a ministry. In addition to the product sales helping women in poverty, Deborah is using her commissions to give to world missions and to organizations such as Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse and Rafiki African Orphanages to meet the needs of children in poverty around the world. To learn more about hosting a party or becoming a Compassion Entrepreneur, contact Deborah Adair at 931-490-0698, by email at debiadair@gmail.com or visit her Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TradesofHopeDeborahAdair

The post PARTIES WITH A PURPOSE appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.