flag

flag

Monday, December 28, 2009

High Five from WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Individuals with the most sponsors

This week's High Five recognizes the five WILL WORK FOR FOOD participants who have found the most friends and family to sponsor their local work efforts. Visit each participant's profile to see their recent work efforts and how much they have raised to fight child malnutrition.

1) Jenny Feuer, University of Michigan, 11 sponsors
2) Stephanie Stahl, University of Michigan, 10 sponsors
3) Isabella Morrison, Frankel Academy, 8 sponsors
4) Jake Markel, Huron High School, 7 sponsors
5) Lily Strumwasser, Ohio Wesleyan University, 6 sponsors

Congrats on the great work, guys!

Check out our Sponsor Someone page if you're interested in sponsoring a WILL WORK FOR FOOD participant, and look at "How Do I Find a Sponsor" on our FAQ Page for steps on how to get your own community service sponsored by friends and family.


If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Participant of the Week: Jenna Weinberg


Jenna Weinberg is a sophomore at the University of Michigan. The Baltimore native has shown a great devotion to community service and WILL WORK FOR FOOD. Because of her outstanding work and her creative ideas, we decided Jenna would be perfect as this week's WILL WORK FOR FOOD Participant of the Week. We asked Jenna a few questions, and here's what she had to say:

Q: What is your major at the University of Michigan? And what do you want to be when you grow up?
A:
I'm an International Studies major, and I hope to work for a non-profit someday or do something social work related.

Q: What is your favorite song?
A:
"Window" by Guster

Q: What's your favorite TV show?
A: Lost

Q: What is the most interesting place you've even been?
A: Uruguay and Argentina

Q: How did you find out about WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: I found out about WILL WORK FOR FOOD when Challah for Hunger decided to host an event with WWFF. Students baked 175 challahs over the course of a week, and then invited the community to a huge event to raise awareness and money for the cause.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about your specific work effort, Challah for Hunger?
A: Challah for Hunger is an organization on college compuses nationwide. The goal is to bake challah every week in all sorts of fun flavors (chocolate chip, pumpkin, chai tea, tomato basil, apple cinnamon, etc) and then sell them on campus to raise money for charity. Half of the money raised supports Challah for Hunger's national partner, the Darfur Fund at the Amercian Jewish World Service. Each campus chapter then gets to pick where the other half of the money raised is donated and we chose WWFF!

Q: How have you been raising money so far?
A: I personally raised about $50 by signing up online on WILL WORK FOR FOOD's website. I then sent out emails to my family and friends, telling them about WWFF and asking them to sponsor my work.

Q: How long did it take you to raise this money?
A: It only took a few minutes to send out the emails. I then received donations from three different people over the course of about a week.

Q: Why are you interested in helping with and participating in WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: This is a way to give back to both the local and world communities all at once. I can volunteer in my community and get sponsors to help alleviate malnutrition in Darfur simultaneously. What could be better?

Q: If you could describe WILL WORK FOR FOOD in one word, what would it be?
A: Genius!



If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Food For Thought: How far can a donation go?

In our "Food For Though" posts, we'll share a new statement or fact with you every week. We'll follow these up with some extra information and also break them down for you in order to put things in perspective.

Volunteering in your community and finding one sponsor to donate to WILL WORK FOR FOOD can help save a malnourished kid.

Our slogan is simple: volunteering locally to save children globally. Volunteer in your own community and then ask a friend or family member to "sponsor" this work with a donation. The money raised will help save malnourished children abroad.

In some of our past posts we've written about the importance of community service and also provided some suggestions of how to get involved. Now we want to let you know just how important it is to get your work sponsored and how far a donation to WILL WORK FOR FOOD can go.

In the past, the average donation from a sponsor has been about $25. For $25 we can provide a severely malnourished child in Darfur with a week of Plumpy'nut AND a height/weight check up with a doctor. It only takes three weeks of Plumpy'nut and check ups to save the life of a malnourished child.

So if you volunteer in your community and ask friends or family members to sponsor your work, you can save a severely malnourished child. Volunteering locally to save children globally. It's as simple as that.

As of December 2009, WILL WORK FOR FOOD has raised over $17,000 and has saved hundreds of kids.

WILL YOU WORK FOR FOOD?

Check out the Get Involved page to learn more. You can also visit the Donate Now page to make a contribution.


If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Friday, December 11, 2009

Participant of the Week: John French


John French – a native of Cary, NC – is currently in his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He was able to raise almost $200 for his recent work effort at the Peidmont Wildlife Center with the help of numerous family and friends who sponsored his volunteering. For his great work, we decided it was time for everyone to meet John:


Q: What are you studying at UNC-Chapel Hill ? And do you have any idea what you want to be when you grow up?
A: I’m a biology major and I hope to go into health care when I graduate.


Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

A: I would go to Antarctica to study penguins.

Q: What's the best movie you've seen recently?

A: Funny People

Q: What's your favorite music group/singer?

A: Thelonious Monk

Q: How did you get so many people to sponsor you?

A: I mainly asked my family and close friends to make contributions through e-mail.

Q: Was finding sponsors easy or difficult to do?
A: I thought it might be difficult to find sponsors for my work efforts, but it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. After explaining what WILL WORK FOR FOOD was, they were all more than happy to donate to the worthwhile cause.

Q: How long did it take you to raise this money?
A: I sent out e-mails and then within a few hours I had donations. It took almost no time at all!

A: How did you find out about Will Work For Food?

A: I found out about WWFF through Peter Helvie and Ben Vollmer, the WILL WORK FOR FOOD representatives for UNC-Chapel Hill.

Q: Why are you interested in helping and participating in WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: I was drawn to WILL WORK FOR FOOD because it is a unique and simple way to help around my local community while helping malnourished children in Darfur at the same time.

Q: If you could describe WWFF in one word, what would it be?

A: Compassion



If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Thursday, December 10, 2009

"Plumpy'nut is a life-saver"

Last month WILL WORK FOR FOOD had the privilege of introducing our initiative at a conference hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Global Health. At the event, students, professors and doctors from around the world were able to get together and share innovative ideas with one another.

We were fortunate enough to meet Anthony Sallar, a medical student in his final year at the University of Ghana Medical School, and some of his classmates. WILL WORK FOR FOOD caught their attention because of how we utilize Plumpy’nut to fight child malnutrition. Anthony and his classmates shared stories with us about how they have witnessed Plumpy’nut nurse malnourished kids back to health at a nutritional rehabilitation center in Ghana.

They went on to tell us about just how badly these kids suffering from malnutrition need nutritional supplements like Plumpy’nut. “Plumpy’nut is a life-saver,” they told us. Anthony and his friends were a powerful inspiration for us to keep spreading the WILL WORK FOR FOOD initiative and continuing to fight child malnutrition.

While we currently focus on saving malnourished kids in Darfur, meeting and hearing stories from people like Anthony is why we hope to be able to expand to other regions of the world soon. As the ancient Chinese proverb goes, “The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Make a step today and Get Involved!



If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

High Five from WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Natalie Fratto

Every other week, our High Five post will feature an internal member of WILL WORK FOR FOOD so that you can get to know our team a little better.

Natalie Fratto is a University of Michigan Campus Coordinator and part of the Marketing team for the national WWFF campaign. She's a sophomore Communications major and a member of the U of M Circle K chapter. Natalie also helps out her community by working with the Detroit Partnership and raising money for St. Jude Children's Hospital with her sorority.

Natalie WORKS FOR FOOD because it gives her the opportunity to use her local actions to combat a serious global problem; she can help children here in Michigan while improving the lives of suffering children in Darfur at the same time.


Natalie decided to share her top 5 ways to waste time when she should be studying for exams:

1. Discovering new music on Pandora--my current fave is Joshua Radin radio.

2. Watching TV episodes online, usually Dexter or Flash Forward.

3. Playing obscene amounts of tetris. My high score is in the 3 millions.

4. Replaying the end of Love Actually over and over and over... the little boy singing gets me every time!

5. Enjoying the beautiful U of M campus.

Somehow Natalie forgot to mention that reading the WILL WORK FOR FOOD blog is actually her favorite distraction.

If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Participant of the Week: Elise Machiele

Thanks to the hard-working students and volunteers who continue to spread WILL WORK FOR FOOD’s purpose across the nation, we’ve been able to watch the initiative really grow. Last week, Elise Machiele – a junior at Huron High School in Ann Arbor, MI – was our 1,000th worker to sign up. To commemorate this milestone, Elise has been named this week’s “Participant of the Week.” We wanted to get to know her a little bit better so without further ado, let’s meet Elise:

Q: What kinds of clubs or teams are you a part of?

A: I’m on the women's cross-country team and in charge of the Huron Cycling Club, a club where we go bike riding every Saturday afternoon. I’m also in my school’s choir and an a cappella girls singing group.

Q: What are your favorite hobbies?

A: Bike riding and creating art.

Q: What’s a cool trip you’ve been on recently?

A: This past summer I went on a mission trip to Belize with my church.

Q: What kind of career are you interested in?

A: I’m not sure what I want to do when I grow up yet, but I'm thinking about careers in either medicine, engineering, or art.

Q: How did you hear about WILL WORK FOR FOOD?

A: I heard about WILL WORK FOR FOOD from the other students at my school who are also involved in the organization.

Q: What was it about WILL WORK FOR FOOD that caught your attention? Why did you decide to join this work effort?
A: I feel like WILL WORK FOR FOOD is an organization that was started for all the right reasons, and it really does what it sets out to do: fight child malnutrition through the work efforts of local volunteers. It seemed like a really good way to make an impact globally while helping my community at the same time.


If you want to know every time WILL WORK FOR FOOD posts something new to our blog, email willworkforfoodblog@gmail.com with the subject line "Sign me up."

Thursday, December 3, 2009

High Five from WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Schools with the most registered

Here's your weekly High Five from WILL WORK FOR FOOD, featuring the Top 5 Schools in terms of student and group registration!

If you are a student at one of these five schools and are interested in joining WILL WORK FOR FOOD on your campus, or if you are interested in sponsoring volunteers from any of these schools, click the schools' names below to check out their profile on the WWFF network.

1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI:  349 students registered

2. Andrew P. Hill High School, San Jose, CA:  22 students registered

3. University of Texas, Austin, TX:  18 students registered

4. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC:  17 students registered

5. Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH:  16 students registered

Congratulations to this week's High Five schools for getting involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD. We'd also like to give a shout out to our two runner-up schools, Harvard University and East Grand Rapids High School.

Go to www.willworkforfood.org to get involved on your campus and help your school make it to the weekly High Five!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: first installment

In our “Food For Thought” posts, we’ll share a new fact with you every week. We’ll follow these facts up with some extra information and also break them down for you in order to put things in perspective.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are currently 20 million young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.”

This means that around the world, 20 million children--more than twice the population of New York City--are suffering like this child:



Severe acute malnutrition is a serious epidemic that is often confused with hunger. Hunger is a lack of calories while malnutrition is characterized by a lack of essential nutrients that the body needs to survive. Severe acute malnutrition is associated with weakened mental and physical development and leads to the death of 3.5-5 million children per year.

Severe acute malnutrition is often referred to as the “Silent Killer” in the international aid community because it doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Fortunately, the disease is very treatable when given the proper attention. WILL WORK FOR FOOD is dedicated to bringing awareness to this matter and working to save severely malnourished children.

One hundred percent of the money we raise together will help Doctors Without Borders purchase and distribute nutritional supplements, like Plumpy’nut, to help save malnourished children. For now, the money raised will help save children in Darfur, where 1 in 7 kids are severely malnourished.

Together we can fight the Silent Killer and bring attention to the malnutrition crises. Visit the Get Involved page to learn more about how you can help.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Birthday Shout Out

We’d like to wish a very happy birthday to Mike Paulsen, a leading member of our marketing team. Mike is in his last year at the University of Michigan where he has already finished his business degree and is currently wrapping up his biochemistry major and premed classes.

At the Business School, Mike studied marketing and operations and has held positions with Apple and Unilever. He was able to use the skills he gained from these experiences to help design our logo and some of our marketing materials that you’ll be seeing more of soon.

After graduation, Mike plans to head to medical school and pursue a career as a trauma surgeon.

Mike originally got involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD because he believed in the initiative’s potential to fight child malnutrition, a completely preventable tragedy.
Happy birthday Mike!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Event Highlight: Piedmont Wildlife Center Project at University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill

On Saturday, November 21, the WILL WORK FOR FOOD team at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill kicked off their most successful event yet: the Piedmont Wildlife Center Project. The group of UNC students spent the day helping out around the center and, with the sponsorship support of their families and friends, raised nearly $400.

Peter Helvie and Ben Vollmer, our Campus Reps for UNC, wanted to bring WILL WORK FOR FOOD to their campus because they like how the initiative approaches a global problem differently than other organizations. “I like WILL WORK FOR FOOD because a lot of organizations are just about raising money to help foreign crises. With WILL WORK FOR FOOD I’m able to do this by fundraising to fight child malnutrition abroad and at the same time I can also do something to help my immediate community.”

Peter and Ben expect WILL WORK FOR FOOD to continue to grow and be successful at UNC-Chapel Hill thanks to all of the motivated, enthusiastic students on campus. “After hearing about WILL WORK FOR FOOD’s cause, many students who were already involved in community service were completely sold and immediately went to the WILL WORK FOR FOOD website to sign up and make their profiles,” said Peter.

Keep up the great work UNC!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

WILL WORK FOR FOOD gives thanks

We hope you're having a nice Thanksgiving break. In the spirit of the holiday, we encourage you to take a minute to think about just how much we have to be thankful for in our lives.

Being able to enjoy a delicious meal in the company of family and friends is a privilege that millions of severely malnourished kids around the world lack. If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can watch our video (below) to get a sense of just how badly these kids need our help.

WILL WORK FOR FOOD has a great deal to be thankful for over the past year. First and foremost, our 993 participants that have volunteered in their local communities and their friends and family that have sponsored this work with generous donations that help us fight child malnutrition abroad.

We’ve also been fortunate enough to gain some powerful support over the past year. Last fall Google awarded us one of their online marketing grants worth the equivalent of $10,000 per month in advertising. In February we were recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative for Universities and traveled to Austin, Texas to present WILL WORK FOR FOOD to students from around the world. In the spring we were chosen as an International Semifinalist in the Dell Social Innovation Competition and we currently have over 30 passionate Campus Reps bringing WILL WORK FOR FOOD to their respective schools around the country. And of course, none of this would have been possible without our Principle Contributors that have funded our work.

During this holiday season there are an increasing number of people that have less and need more. Local thrift stores are challenged to keep items on their racks and soup kitchens have lines out the door. To make matters a bit more daunting, child malnutrition in other regions of the world is expected to drastically increase as funding for international aid programs are cut.

So rather than thinking about what we might need or want during the holidays, we encourage everyone to enjoy and appreciate all that we have. And if you have a little extra that you can spare--whether it’s time to volunteer, money to donate, or any other resources--we'd love to have your continued support.

Thanks and have a great holiday.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

High Five From WILL WORK FOR FOOD: first installment

On our new blog, we’re going to be giving readers a “high five” every week. Think of it as our take on a Top Ten list--half the reading and twice the punch. We’ll give you our five favorites for all types of topics: community service ideas, the top schools involved in WWFF, fund-raising ideas, newest participants, etc. We’ll also give you a look into the WILL WORK FOR FOOD Team from time to time with our five favorite bands or movies at the moment.

We figured that we’d start on a bit of a more serious seasonal note. As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, we are often reminded how much we take for granted and how important it is to give back to our communities. Below are five suggestions for how you can help those in need in your community and make this Thanksgiving a bit more meaningful.

1. Volunteer at a local soup kitchen.

2. Collect canned food in your neighborhood with some friends and donate it to a local food bank.

3. Check out your closet to see if you have any clothes, coats, hats or gloves that you could pass on to the Salvation Army or local thrift store.

4. Rake leaves for an elderly neighbor.

5, Donate any books you’ve already read or gently used appliances to a local shelter.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Group Highlight: University of Michigan Circle K

Circle K is a service organization that provides a wide variety of service opportunities to college students interested in volunteering. There are Circle K chapters around the world, and the University of Michigan is fortunate enough to have one of the largest and most active chapters.

On Saturday, November 14th, the University of Michigan's Circle K chapter partnered with WILL WORK FOR FOOD for “Circle K Service Day,” a volunteer event in which participants had the opportunity to spend the entire day working together on a variety of service projects.

Projects included:
-A food drive that collected 759 pounds of food.
-Planting trees in Detroit.
-Sending letters to sick kids through the Make-a-Child-Smile organization.
-Making blankets for veterans.
-Serving lunch at a nursing home.

The Numbers:
-1,536 dollars raised by Service Day volunteers for WILL WORK FOR FOOD.
-397 people volunteered throughout the day.
-77 different projects throughout campus and the Ann Arbor community.
-2,004.5 hours of service provided to the community.

“Service Day was definitely one of our most successful projects,” said Alli Schaffner, Circle K’s Vice President. Since Circle K is already involved in local volunteering, Schaffner said “partnering with WILL WORK FOR FOOD was really easy. It’s really a great organization to collaborate with. We’re definitely looking forward to working with them more in the future.”

Circle K decided to get involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD because they knew child malnutrition is “an important cause that motivated Circle K members. It is such a large problem globally and an issue that everyone should definitely be more aware of,” said Schaffner.

Great work, Circle K! Thanks for getting involved.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Campus Rep Birthday Shout Out

We'd like to wish a very happy birthday to Ellice Tan, our University of Texas Campus Rep.

Ellice is a Sophomore at UT, where she's majoring in Chemistry and taking pre-pharmacy classes. She also plays on the women's lacrosse team and has an impressively diverse taste in music (everything from the Beatles to Girl Talk to Tchaikovsky).

Ellice originally decided to help spread WILL WORK FOR FOOD to UT "because of the unique model that allows students to have impact on their own communities while fighting child malnutrition abroad."

Ellice has already introduced the WILL WORK FOR FOOD initiative to dozens of students at the University of Texas where they have raised nearly $300 in the past month.

Check out the University of Texas group page to find out more about Ellice's work so far.

Thanks for helping us spread WILL WORK FOR FOOD to UT, Ellice! Have a great Birthday!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Participant of the Week: Dan Friedman

WILL WORK FOR FOOD aims to stimulate local community service while raising relief funds to fight child malnutrition.

Dan is a freshman at the University of Michigan from Cross River, New York. He is a business school hopeful and an active member on the Circle K fundraising committee, a local service organization in Ann Arbor.

Q: What else are you involved in?
A: I'm a pledge for Sigma Pi fraternity and a member of Jewish Greek Council through University of Michigan Hillel. I'm also the Director of Marketing and a contributor for ThaGoodLifeReviews.com, a hip-hop music blog. I got to interview Mike Posner for it.

Q: What’s your favorite song?
A: My favorite song is “Up Up & Away” by Kid Cudi.

Q: Tell us something interesting or unique that you’ve done.
A: I used to play for my high school's ultimate frisbee team. Our team, John Jay Air Raid, finished 2nd in the New York State Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.

Q: What are your career plans?
A: My career plans, for now, are to succeed in my academics, make a difference in the Ann Arbor community, and have fun at the same time.

Q: How did you find out about WILL WORK FOR FOOD?

A: I heard about WILL WORK FOR FOOD from my Circle K fundraising committee chairwoman. She's a great leader and highlighted this opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause.

At first, I was unaware of what WILL WORK FOR FOOD was. After reading through the website, I'm happy to be raising money through my local volunteer work and helping a greater cause on the other side of the world.

Q: What specifically are you doing for your work effort
?
A: For my work effort, I'm volunteering at Circle K Service Day in which our organization at the University of Michigan organizes 24 hours of service projects that are open to all UofM students to participate in. We’ll volunteer for a variety of causes all around Ann Arbor.

Q: How have you found sponsors and raised money so far?

A: I have raised my money by sending emails to my close friends and family. I personalized the emails to mention my own opinion about the importance of this cause and my relationship with the friends and family.

Q: Why are you interested in helping and participating in WILL WORK FOR FOOD?

A: I really like that one-hundred percent of the money raised helps your affiliate organization, Doctors Without Borders, purchase and distribute nutritional supplements to severely malnourished children. I've read in the news that child malnutrition is a large problem globally and I was excited that I found a direct way to help raise money for such a worthy cause.

Q: If you could describe WILL WORK FOR FOOD in one word, what would it be?
A: Service.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Why isn't WILL WORK FOR FOOD on my campus?

WILL WORK FOR FOOD is currently on twenty-two high school and college campuses across the US, including the University of Michigan, Northwestern, Indiana University, the University of Texas, and UNC.

Our current "campus outreach" initiative aims to extend WILL WORK FOR FOOD to at least fifty more high school and college campuses by the end of 2009 with the help of newly recruited campus representatives. WWFF campus reps represent WILL WORK FOR FOOD and the “volunteering locally to save children globally” initiative on their own campuses.

WWFF reps make their own schedules and goals in order to promote WILL WORK FOR FOOD and to motivate their peers. They work with classes, clubs, teams and school faculty to increase awareness, promote local community service, and raise money to help save severely malnourished children in Darfur.

If you're interested in becoming a campus representative and want to bring WILL WORK FOR FOOD to your high school or college campus, email willworkforfoodnow@gmail.com. Send your name, phone number, and the name of the school where you want to bring WILL WORK FOR FOOD!

WILL WORK FOR FOOD video update from CEO Steve Weinberg

Volunteer Spotlight: Stephanie Stahl

Stephanie Stahl was first introduced to WILL WORK FOR FOOD at a Doctors Without Borders lecture that WILL WORK FOR FOOD hosted in Ann Arbor last February. Stahl was initially attracted to WILL WORK FOR FOOD because of its flexibility.

“I have a tight schedule that can vary somewhat from week to week, so it's nice to be able to schedule my own service efforts around the time that I have available,” said Stahl. Stahl’s work efforts include serving on the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Livingston County and working on a knitting collection to donate to a local charity.

“I've found that a lot of people have good intentions about making a donation but never get around to it,” says Stahl. She contacted her family and friends, asking them to sponsor her work with a donation to WILL WORK FOR FOOD. Her service efforts inspired her family and friends to donate over $600.

Stahl graduated with a BBA in Finance from Western Michigan University and recently completed a second bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Michigan in August 2009. She hopes one day to have a career in health care.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Why peanut butter can save children in Darfur and how we can help

Out of a population of 6 million people in Darfur, 5 million people are dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. But with a problem this large, how can you make a difference?

The WILL WORK FOR FOOD initiative devotes our effort toward one particular part of the crisis in Darfur--child malnutrition. We do this by helping Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) purchase and distribute life-saving nutritional supplements to malnourished children.

Child malnutrition rates in Darfur have exceeded the United Nation's emergency threshold of 15%. Children under the age of 5 who do not receive the necessary nutrient-rich diet will begin to consume their own tissue to survive, resulting in permanent developmental disabilities or death.

But the innovation of new ready-to-use food sources (RFSs) can significantly reduce malnutrition rates. WILL WORK FOR FOOD donates to MSF to aid in the distribution Plumpy'nut, an inexpensive, peanut-based RFS, to severely malnourished children in Darfur.

Plumpy'nut is a fortified paste that contains a balance of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals to help severely malnourished children gain weight rapidly. While previous milk-based formulas offered only a 25-40% chance of recovery for acutely malnourished children, Plumpy'nut has an 80-95% recovery rate. Plumpy'nut can be prepared locally since it doesn't require water or refrigeration--and it has a shelf life of over two years.

WILL WORK FOR FOOD participants ask friends and family to sponsor their local community service work with a donation. 100% of the money raised will help get Plumpy'nut to children suffering in Darfur.

How will you WORK FOR FOOD?

Monday, October 12, 2009

Vote for the new WILL WORK FOR FOOD logo

Please vote in our open poll to decide the new WILL WORK FOR FOOD logo! Comments and suggestions are welcome.



Tell your friends to vote, too! http://tinyurl.com/wwffsurvey

Monday, September 21, 2009

Welcome to the WILL WORK FOR FOOD blog!

We created WILL WORK FOR FOOD in 2007 to bridge the gap between local community service and international relief work. While we knew of plenty of other organizations that either volunteered locally or focused on international aid, we wanted to bring these two causes together.

And so came our "volunteering locally to save children globally" initiative.

We encourage our participants to volunteer in their local communities and to then ask family and friends to “sponsor” their work with a donation to WWFF. One-hundred percent of the money raised helps our affiliate organization, Doctors Without Borders, to purchase and distribute nutritional supplements to malnourished children.

For now, the money raised will help provide Plumpy’nut®, a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, to children in Darfur. The United Nations estimates that severe acute malnutrition affects 1 in 7 children in Darfur. WILL WORK FOR FOOD will soon begin to help save children in other regions of the world as well.

WWFF is sanctioned by the Clinton Global Initiative for Universities and was recognized as an International Semi-Finalist in the Dell Social Innovation Competition. We also received a competitive Google marketing grant and were recently given a generous contribution from the University of Michigan’s President and Provost Offices that will fund our national launch this year.

WILL WORK FOR FOOD is currently launching at 25 high school and college campuses across the United States, including Stanford University, The University of North Carolina, and Georgetown.

We want to engage our generation by utilizing the power of the internet and social media. Our main website offers an online network that allows participants to track their community service work and raise money as individuals or groups. You can also follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

We aim to raise $1,000,000 to fight child malnutrition and to have 40,000 commitments to community
service by the end of the 2010-11 school year.

WILL YOU WORK FOR FOOD? Visit www.willworkforfood.org to get involved.