The Silent Tsunami Campaign

A Humane Response
Text Box: As an individual you have little control of the long-term, globally generated forces that have brought us to these sustained high food prices and precarious economic position. Most of us have little say on the policies that set food prices or regulate employment. However, you can help people survive this “silent tsunami.”    No contribution is too small. Simply diverting what you might spend on an afternoon cup of coffee or soda can help a handful of people get the food they need. Using your lunch hour or spending a few hours during the weekend at a local center for clothing donation or nutritional assistance can help those who might otherwise lack these items get back on their feet and fight back against the hunger and destitution that has ravaged them.   Contributions of Different Names… Last year, the lawyers and administrative staff at The Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart spearheaded an effort to raise funds and food for organizations geared to help alleviate hunger in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and worldwide. Employees from organizations including the Urban Institute and George Washington University were encouraged to give to the Friends of the World Food Program, which helps deliver food to needy people in 80 countries, and/or the Capital Area Food Bank, which works with 700 area organizations to make sure people have the food they need. The short-term fundraising campaign soon became a larger effort to raise awareness about the food crisis. Members of the law firm spoke at business forums and university meetings, and reached out to academic student groups to encourage raising awareness of the crisis on campus.    This year, lawyers and administrators alike will donate their time and resources to support local programs aimed to alleviate hunger in and around the nation’s capital. In October, Stewart and Stewart team members will support the Capital Area Food Bank’s second annual “Outlaw Hunger” initiative, designed to rally the legal community in Washington, D.C. around hunger and nutrition issues in their area. In addition, volunteers from the law firm will spend time preparing and serving meals at So Others Might Eat (SOME), an organization in Washington, D.C. that provides food, clothing and basic healthcare to help the city’s poor and homeless meet their daily needs. … Nourish Those in Need There are lots of ways to help. Hundreds, if not thousands, of organizations around the world share a mission to feed people in need. Please be generous to whatever organization you choose to support, in whatever way you are able to support it.    To learn more about and advance the life-giving work of the United Nations’ World Food Program, please visit Friends of the World Food Program.   To learn more about the tremendous job the Capital Area Food Bank does in Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland and Virginia, please visit their Web site.   We hope you’ll join us as we continue to strive to mobilize the best of human virtue for the direst of human needs.