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Saturday, November 12, 2011

High Five to UNC's Troy Homesley!





As as sophomore, Troy Homesley has already made incredible strides towards building the WWFF chapter and morale at UNC Chapel Hill. Check out what he has to say about his role in WWFF and where he finds inspiration!

Tell us about yourself. How did you get involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD? What you do for the organization?
One of the best experiences during my time at UNC has been the establishment and development of UNC's chapter of WWFF. My freshman year, I was contacted by Ben Vollmer, co-founder of this chapter, and he told me what WWFF was all about. The philosophy behind WWFF intrigued me, it intrigued me because it was something much more than a volunteer organization and had much higher goals than merely raising money. That's when I decided to become involved. One year later, WWFF has received UNC recognition and new members join daily. Today, I also serve as the Chair of the Volunteer, we oversee the development and implementation of weekl Committee y work efforts.

This past summer, I was in India for two months working on an education development project in a local slum area. Through my work in India, I gained a better appreciation for the fact that the work that we do at WWFF has very meaningful and far-reaching effects upon countless human beings. To see the suffering of starving children and families allowed me to understand the dire needs of places such as India, Somalia, the French Horn and other areas around the world. The realization of this need motivated me to come back to campus and do my best to help WWFF help others.

Please describe the event for which you raised money recently. Was this donation expected? How did you feel after receiving such a donation?
Recently, we organized a work effort to help clean up a local park known as Battle Park. We met at the park around 10:00 a.m. and went through to clear out weeds that would otherwise turn the park into a monoculture. This is an event we volunteer at multiple times each year, and something that leaves a tangible difference at the end of the day. I created the work effort and soon I had my first donations rolling in. Not only was I getting donations, but so were others from UNC who had signed up for the work effort. It's a great feeling to know that people are putting their money where their mouth is and literally pledging to support local volunteering and global action simultaneously.


What else do you partake in outside of WWFF?
Outside of WWFF, I am a member of the UNC Attorney General's Staff, a captain of the Carolina Mock Trial Team and a founder of The Sigma Phi Society. I am majoring in Political Science and Philosophy and I hope to attend law school after I complete my undergraduate studies. In the meantime, I pride myself on being a friend of the one and only Ben Vollmer.


List the top 5 places you wish to travel to:
1.) Iran
2.) Turkey
3.) Chile
4.) Nepal
5.) Israel

Many thanks to Troy Homesley, Ben Vollmer, Peter Helvie, Jesse Marques, and everyone else at the WWFF chapter at UNC for continuing to accomplish amazing things. We look forward to hearing about your future efforts!
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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Drought in Somalia


Did you know that it has been over 100 days since famine was declared in Somalia?
As our goal is to help malnourished children around the globe, the current condition in Somalia is extremely relevant to our cause. This past summer, Somalia experienced one of the worst droughts in 60 years and has caused famine. Tens of thousands of Somalis have died and others have fled to neighboring countries.
How bad really is it?
Between July and September, over 110,000 malnourished children in the region were taken to health centers due to moderate and severe malnutrition.
What is America doing to help?
Aid groups around the country have raised about $60 million from private donors. While this should not be overlooked, it is noticeably lower than the $1.29 billion that we raised for Haiti.
What can you do to help the cause?
Get involved and raise sponsors--“volunteer locally to save children globally!”


Click here to see a video of a three-year-old boy who had severe acute malnutrition, the most extreme kind. He is one of the 336,000 children who suffer from this malnutrition across Somalia. Yet, after two months of treatment with therapeutic foods and medication, he is currently recovering!


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."