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."

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!

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?