High Five From WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Elizabeth Watchowski

This installment of the WILL WORK FOR FOOD High Five features Elizabeth Watchowski, a University of Michigan freshman who, back in mid-March, had one of the most impressive performances during the highly successful HQ Team Food Drive. Elizabeth, who decided to volunteer for the Food Drive with her Delta Delta Delta sorority, managed to raise $2,440 from nearly 30 different sponsors, all in less than 48 hours!

Elizabeth found that getting sponsored for her volunteer work wasn't complicated, it just took a little time and thoughtful effort. She started out by sending the generic WWFF-provided email to prospective sponsors before following up with her own personalized note, sending both to her entire list of online contacts as well as those of her parents. And while Elizabeth acknowledges that her success is largely due to "the extreme generosity of [her] friends and family," her strategy of getting sponsored obviously proved to be successful. It's a simple concept (personalizing emails and sending follow-ups), but doggone it, it works.

Following the Food Drive, Elizabeth mentioned that it was her first experience with WILL WORK FOR FOOD, but that it won't be her last. We are glad to hear that and look forward to having Elizabeth on board for future WWFF-HQ Team events. And since she'll be sticking around, why not get to know Elizabeth a little more. And is there any better way to get to know somebody new than finding out their favorite PG rated Youtube videos? There isn't. And that's why we are proud to present Elizabeth Watchowski's

TOP FIVE CUTEST YOUTUBE VIDEOS:

1) Charlie Bit My Finger
2) Slow Loris with a Tiny Umbrella
3) Old Guy Techno Raver
4) St. Patricks' Day Leprechaun March
5) Twin Baby Boys Having a Conversation

Elizabeth may have just started working for food but she has already made a name for herself. It just goes to show how easy it is to translate the volunteer work you do into sponsorships that go fight malnutrition abroad. All you need to do is get involved today!

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."

Pre-Event Highlight: UNC Battle Park Cleanup & Block Party

From 10am-12pm on April 2nd, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, WILL WORK FOR FOOD-UNC will be hosting the Battle Park Cleanup. More than 20 volunteers are expected to take part in this service project which aims to beautify Battle Park, located on-campus at the University of North Carolina.

"[Battle Park] is a great place for students to run, hike, or just hang out," said WWFF-UNC Co-Chapter Represntative, Ben Vollmer, "This will be the second time we've helped to clean up Battle Park."

Following the service project, students at UNC are invited to attend a Block Party on Amity Court. There, attendees will be treated to food and live music, all intended to raise awareness for the UNC Chapter of WILL WORK FOR FOOD. According to Vollmer, the Block Party was the brainchild of marketing manager, Jayce Walker.

"We've just finished applying for official university recognition, which we should have in the fall, and we wanted to make the student body familiar with WILL WORK FOR FOOD," said Vollmer, "Jayce contacted a number of bands to play and really took the lead on this project."

With the help of their other Chapter Rep, Peter Helvie, as well as everyone else at WWFF-UNC, our folks down in Chapel Hill certainly are on the quick path to success. Great job Tar Heels and good luck this weekend with the Battle Park Cleanup and Block Party!

WILL WORK FOR FOOD is fortunate to have many great chapters all over the country. It seems like every week, another great work effort s is being hosted by WWFF somewhere. If you think you have what it takes to be a great Chapter Rep and come up with your own service events, learn how you can become a Chapter Rep today!

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."

Event Highlight Update: Top Teams from the HQ Food Drive

The WILL WORK FOR FOOD Headquarters Team's Food Drive (March 11-12) was a through and through success ($6,000 raised and 3012 pounds of food collected). With the final numbers in, we are excited to announce our top teams! First off, Team Delta:

Led by team captain Becca Kendis, Team Delta raised $3,460. We appreciate all of the hard work each and every team put into the Food Drive, but Team Delta particularly blew us away with their unprecedented success with fundraising.
Team Delta was comprised of 10 members of the University of Michigan's Delta Delta Delta chapter. After being informed about WILL WORK FOR FOOD by an academic advisor, Becca attended a WWFF Food Drive mass meeting back in January, where she decided to become a team captain. Utilzing the outreach resources provided to team captains from WWFF, Becca was able to organize Team Delta and get them on track to raise their record sum with support from friends and families.

"We feel very fortunate that our team members' families and friends were incredibly supportive of our efforts and responded so generously," said Becca.

Understanding that not everyone is in a position to donate generously, it was definitely helpful that the members of Team Delta reached out to nearly 100 friends and family asking them to contribute.

One member of Team Delta did an especially outstanding job. In less than 24 hours, Elizabeth Watchowski managed to raise $1,835 from over a dozen different family members and friends that sponsored her! The donations kept rolling in and Elizabeth ended up raising $2,400 from about 25 sponsors. Look for another blog post coming soon about how Elizabeth had so much success.

Another noteworthy performance came from Team KKG. This team, led by Lucy Przybylski, Stephanie Priel, and Jess Lazar, worked its way to raising $1,150. Jess, the designated team captain, mentioned that she had so much success fundraising by simply sending a pre-drafted email from WWFF out to over a dozen family members and friends. It definitely helped that Jess wrote a compelling bio in her WWFF profile and also followed up with an additional personalized email to them all.

"Almost everyone that I emailed donated," Jess said, "I am really lucky to have such generous and supportive people in my life."

And WILL WORK FOR FOOD is lucky to have had such great people working hard to ensure the food drive's success. Becca, Elizabeth, Jess and the rest of our "Workers" that participated in the food drive and got sponsored perfectly demonstrate how big of an impact you can have when you just get involved and ask friends and family to support your work.

We couldn't have pulled off this food drive without our team captains, volunteers, and of course everyone that contributed as a sponsor. We sincerely thank everyone that was involved! We also encourage you all to continue volunteering locally to save children globally!

Want to get involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD but you don't know how? Stop thinking and dive right in!

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."

Event Highlight: HQ Team Food Drive

Based in Ann Arbor, MI, the WILL WORK FOR FOOD Headquarters Team works very hard to ensure WWFF spreads itself into high schools and colleges across the nation diligently and successfully. With goal-setting, branding, and consulting services, dozens of (mostly) University of Michigan (UofM) students spend dozens of hours each week ensuring WILL WORK FOR FOOD's success. This past weekend, however, the WWFF-HQ Team practiced what it preaches and hosted a large-scale event at UofM:

The HQ Team Food Drive.

The Food Drive was a two-day event that started on Friday, March 11th. Groups, led by designated and trained team captains, were assigned neighborhoods near the Michigan campus and around Ann Arbor where they flyered and distributed collection bags to nearly 1,000 houses advertising the food dirve. Then, the next day from 12-3pm, volunteers spent their afternoons collecting canned goods left out by residents on their porches. Following the collection, each group returned to campus for a sorting party at which the HQ Team, Team Captains and volunteers gathered to see the impressive amount of food that they gathered.

"It was really inspiring to see so many students who truly wanted to make a difference." ~Levi Barry, WWFF Evaluation Manager

The final weigh-in for collected canned goods came in at a whopping 3,012 lbs. That is heavier than most mid-sized cars! Every pound of that food went to Food Gatherers, an Ann Arbor-based food bank that provides over 10,000 meals a day for those in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County who are in need.

With over 15 groups and over 80 volunteers, this group of dedicated U-M students did the Maize & Blue proud en route to raising over $5,000 (as of 3/14/11; new donations continue to pour in).

Levi Barry, a U-M junior and in his second year as WWFF's Evaluation Manager, was very impressed with the dedication put in by the volunteers and Team Captains, especially considering the timing of the event.

"Because so many of the volunteers' friends were spending this past Friday and Saturday partying in preparation for St. Patricks's Day [this coming Thursday], it was really inspiring to see these students who truly wanted to make a difference dedicate their weekend to making the Food Drive a success."

While a number of Food Drive volunteers have been a part of WILL WORK FOR FOOD's HQ Team for at least a few months, many were participating in their first WWFF event.

"I decided to be a team captain because it seemed like a great opportunity to
get some leadership experience and to help out a worthy cause," freshman Lauren Nieman said, "I think this type of event has a strong future at U-M because it was a great way for college students to get involved in the community while also helping malnourished kids abroad without taking up too much time from their busy schedules."

And with these kinds of endorsement from Michigan underclassmen, it is easy to understand why the future of WILL WORK FOR FOOD has the students at U-M so excited.

"I think it's great that WILL WORK FOR FOOD at Michigan is now practicing what it preaches," said Barry, "I look forward to next year's Food Drive as we work to build upon the success of this year's."

And they will.

Be on the lookout for blog posts this week about top captains and participants from the Food Drive.

There are so many great work efforts that have gone on across America through WILL WORK FOR FOOD, and it's easy to bring WWFF to your school. Don't hesitate, become a WWFF Rep today!

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."

WWFF Participant Spotlight: Lauren Yaffe

This past Monday (1/17/2011), schools, workplaces, and many other activities and establishments took a break to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This federal holiday is at times viewed as "just another excuse to get a day off," but since 1994, it has been much more than that. When then-President Bill Clinton signed off on King Holiday and Service Act, MLK Jr. Day became (to many) Martin Luther King Day of Service.

The idea of having a day of service every year in mid-January has been a great way to honor Dr. King and his ideas of nonviolent activism. WILL WORK FOR FOOD has always been a great supporter of MLK Service Day and we would like to honor one member who has continually done an excellent job raising money for the WWFF cause through Service Day work efforts.

Lauren Yaffe heard about WILL WORK FOR FOOD from her cousin, co-founder Steve Weinberg. She was automatically inspired by WWFF's slogan: Volunteering locally to help children globally.

"I think that donating to sponor someone's work effort is a really ingenious idea," Yaffe said, "[It]is a strong motivator for people to donate because their money is turning into action!"

This past MLK Service Day, Lauren raised $515 in the fight against child malnutrition, bringing her to an impressive 3-year Service Day total of $1,010!

"Dr. King believed that giving back to the community was crucial and this day is to honor his legacy," added Yaffe.

During past MLK Service Days, Yaffe has taught at an after-school program intended to educate children on Martin Luther King, Jr. and diversity, created murals and paintings for a elementary school on the South Side of Chicago, and - most recently - volunteered at a homeless shelter on Chicago's North Side organizing clothing donations for the homeless.

When it is not MLK Service Day, Lauren Yaffe likes to volunteer through Chicago Cares and has attended several professional networking events that allow her to merge her business interests with philanthropy. For example, she attended a charitable networking event for a law firm where the attendees assembled gift bags that were sent to the Battered Women's Shelter.

Lauren Yaffe's involvement has been inspiring and is a perfect demonstration of how powerful the WILL WORK FOR FOOD model can be. According to Yaffe, her secret to success is something we are all capable of: taking pride in what you do. While she has never been shy in asking for donations from family, friends, and co-workers, Yaffe has made it a point to always personalize her messages to let everyone know exactly how she is involved.

"Volunteering in the community is truly a way of giving back to society and focusing your time and energy on an initiative that is close to your heart. Also, any time you can give is better than nothing, whether it is once a year, once a month or once a week," Yaffe said, "Volunteering doesn't have to be a full day affair - any time that someone can give is better than nothing and will make a difference.

Would you like to make a difference? Have a minute? Get involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD today!

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."

High Five From WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Meredith Rizzo

This installment of the WILL WORK FOR FOOD High Five features Meredith Rizzo of Saint Mary's College (IN). Yesterday, WWFF-Saint Mary's successfully completed their 40-hour work week (November 29-December 5). Participants in the series of work efforts, amongst other activities, wrote letters to soldiers and served brunch at a local homeless shelter. This comes on the heels of a community food drive held in early November. Even more impressive, though, is that WWFF-Saint Mary's was just launched during the last week of October. Multiple successful work efforts at this Indiana private school translates into high hopes for the future!

Meredith first heard about WILL WORK FOR FOOD from some former East Grand Rapids High School classmates, including current Director of Operations, Matt Woelfel. Meredith watched WWFF from a distance the past two years, but always wanting to serve her community while making a difference globally, she started talking to some friends in September about starting a chapter at Saint Mary's. Along with Fundraising Coordinator, Katie Herbig, Volunteer Coordinator, Anna Holod, and Marketing Coordinator, Christina Quinn, Meredith has gotten WWFF-Saint Mary's to hit the ground running.

Had it not been for Meredith spending the entire 2009-2010 academic year studying abroad in Rome, Italy, we could have been fortunate enough to have WWFF-Saint Mary's a whole year earlier. But we're not blaming you, Meredith - I want to go to Rome, too - we're just fortunate to finally have you part of the WILL WORK FOR FOOD family. But just in case Meredith decides to take off somewhere again, we can start by looking at one of her TOP FIVE FAVORITE PLACES IN THE WORLD:

1) Grand Haven, MI
2) Rome, Italy
3) Madrid, Spain
4) Capri, Italy
5) New York, New York

While Meredith's favorite places certainly has an international flavor to it, she knows how important it is to remembers that big differences can start right in your own community. If you would like to find a WWFF group to join, check our group directory; there may be a group at your school already. WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Volunteering Locally to Help Children Globally.

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."

(Pictured Above L-R: Christina Quinn, Anna Holod, & Meredith Rizzo)

High Five From WILL WORK FOR FOOD: The Buckeye Trio

Though WILL WORK FOR FOOD is headquartered at the University of Michigan and the annual Michigan-Ohio State football game is this Saturday, in honor of Thanksgiving, this installment of the High Five gives thanks to the hard work by three Buckeye ladies who have accomplished so much down in Colombus.

Led by Chapter Representative, Molly Morse, Volunteer Coordinator, Megan Bennett, and Marketing Coordinator, Adrienne Darah, WWFF-OSU completed its first 40-hour work week (with 45 service hours!) by volunteering at the (Ohio State vs. Michigan) Blood Drive, babysitting for mothers in a local ESL class, and by preparing and serving food at an International Potluck Dinner. These girls have done so much, I can't help but write in run-ons!

The highly-successful WWFF-OSU chapter was started by Molly who, upon transferring to Ohio State from U-M - as a Wolverine, it stings to say that - decided to start up a chapter at OSU since she enjoyed her time with WWFF-Michigan. Megan and Adrienne got involved with WWFF after hearing about it from Molly, and all three of them cited their "WORKIN' FOR FOOD"-motivation as fighting child malnutrition and the excitement of starting their own WWFF-chapter. Well, even in Ann Arbor, we can get excited about this Buckeye trio's work!

In honor (and in irony) of WWFF-OSU's rise to success, Molly, Megan, and Adrienne have decided to share with us their TOP 5 FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT FALL:

1) Thanksgiving
2) Ohio State Football
3) Black Friday Shopping
4) Apple Picking
5) 2/3 of their Birthdays!!

While the next few days appear to be chock full of their favorite Fall things, WILL WORK FOR FOOD would like to wish everybody a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! And as our focus turns to turkey day tomorrow, this is still a perfect time to start your own WWFF chapter, just like Molly, Megan, and Adrienne did. It only takes 5 minutes to become a Chapter Representative today!

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."

Food For Thought: "Starved for Attention" | Some of the 195 Million Stories of Malnutrition

This week in Food for Thought, we will feature an create campaign that Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) launched in early Summer 2010. The purpose of the campaign "Starved for Attention" is to create a multimedia blog that features famous photojournalists from VII Photo Agency while documenting story of malnutrition happening around the world with photography and video.

Currently in the world, there is an estimated 195 million children suffering from malnutrition and 90 percent of them reside in Africa. This campaign of "Starved for Attention" serves as a mean to promote awareness of malnutrition happening in places where we don't usually pay attention to. Each video is composed by short footages and many photographs with voices over. Each video tells a true story that exists in the world right now in this moment.

The blog video that Food for Thought will feature today is "A Mother's Devotion of Burkina Faso" by famous photojournalist, Jessica Dimmock. In this video, a daily life of a mother, Burkina Faso, is shown through a series of photographs and video clips.

This video also shows the dilemma that a mother in Africa commonly faces. She knows that buying fish will help the nutrition of her child and that there are not enough food for the children to eat at home. But Burkina can't buy the fish because if she does and comes home finding her child, she won't have money to buy medicine.



WILL WORK FOR FOOD is continuously dedicated to raising awareness to this global issue and to save undernourished children. All of the money we raise will go to Doctors Without Borders for their nutritional supplies to help save children.

WILL YOU WORK FOR FOOD?

Visit our Get Involved page to sign up, Learn More pages for more information on Malnutrition and Plumpy'nut, or 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."

Food For Thought: Get 'Plummy'Nut'® yet?!

This week, Food For Thought will share with you some details about Plumpy'Nut®, a "life saver" product, as CBS called it, for malnourished children to improve their health conditions and nutrition.

The Plumpy'nut® product began with a French pediatrician named André Briend and a jar of Nutella. Through some basic formulation, a foil-packeted sticky peanut bar can help to renourish hungry children, according to Andrew Rice, reporter of New York Times, on the article "The Peanut Solution".

Children on a Plumpy’nut® regimen add pounds rapidly, often going from a near-death state to relative health in a month. In the world of humanitarian aid, where progress is usually measured in subtle increments of misery, the new product offers a rare satisfaction: swift, visible, fantastic efficacy.

This not only benefits the children, but also the developing countries. Some of the largest peanut plantations are located in developing countries, and the Plumpy'nut® can just be produced anywhere with a blender.

Despite controversial patent issues, Plumpy'nut® is like a revolutionizing medicine for children that are malnourished.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS, Dr. Milton Tectonidis, the chief nutritionist for Doctors Without Borders, "It's a revolution in nutritional affairs,"

"Now we have something. It is like an essential medicine. In three weeks, we can cure a kid that is looked like they're half dead. We can cure them just like an antibiotic. It?s just, boom! It's a spectacular response," Dr. Tectonidis says.

"It's the equivalent of penicillin, you?re saying?" Cooper asks.

"For these kids, for sure," the doctor says.

For more information about Anderson Cooper's cover on Plumpy'nut on CBS, please view the following video, 'Miracle' Food Saves Lives.


The next step is to get these wonderful life saver into the hands of children that are malnourished.

And how do we get Plumpy'nut®?
By getting involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD!

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.

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."

Food For Thought: 1.02 billion people are starving right now.

Although it has been a while for Food for Thought to share with you a new fact, the World Hunger statistics are still climbing. In this post, we will continue to share with you the newest update on world malnutrition and break them down to you.

According to WorldHunger.Org, "the most recent estimate, released on October 14, 2009 by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), says that 1.02 billion people are undernourished, a sizable increase from its 2006 estimate of 854 million people."

This means that the number of people that are undernourished has climbed about 16.2% in 3 years.

WorldHunger. org continued and outlined three factors that have led to these climbing numbers.

"1) neglect of agriculture relevant to very poor people by governments and international agencies;
2) the current worldwide economic crisis, and
3) the significant increase of food prices in the last several years. "

Out of the current estimate of the world population of 6.8 billion, 15% of the population is suffering from malnutrition.

On that note, here is an inspirational video to raise awareness in World Hunger that we would like to share with you.

What can we do about it?

By WORKING FOR FOOD with us!

WILL WORK FOR FOOD is continuously dedicated to raising awareness to this global issue and to save undernourished children.

All of the money we raise will go to Doctors Without Borders for their nutritional supplies to help save children.

WILL YOU WORK FOR FOOD?

Visit our Get Involved page to sign up, Learn More pages for more information on Malnutrition and Plumpy'nut, or the Donate Now page to make a contribution.

High Five From WILL WORK FOR FOOD: Doctors Without Borders

The “High Five” is back by popular demand, and this installment focuses on Doctors Without Borders, our affiliate organization that helps us get life-saving nutritional supplements to severely malnourished children abroad. Doctors Without Borders was founded in 1971 by a group of physicians and journalists in France. Today, Doctors Without Borders provides medical aid in about 60 countries around the world. While many of you may be familar with Doctors Without Borders, you may not know these five interesting tidbits about the organization:

1)Doctors Without Borders (internationally recognized by it's original French name Médecins Sans Frontières or simply MSF) was the 1999 Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

2)More than 27,000 individuals may work for Doctors Without Borders in any given day

3) Donors, like WILL WORK FOR FOOD, make up 80% of the organization’s budget with corporate and government donations making up the rest.

4)During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, with the help of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders was able to keep all of the main hospitals in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, operational because the organization is politically and religiously neutral. MSF eventually had to leave Rwanda for security reasons, but the relief provided during the main part of the genocide was immeasurably helpful to those in need.

5)Doctors Without Borders uses a two-step process to treat malnutrition. The first step is a 24-hour period where basic health care is provided and the patients are given several small low energy/protein meals spread throughout the day. In the second step, the patient is medically-monitored and is given several high energy/protein meals, again spread throughout the day. The second step is repeated until the patient’s weight approaches a normal level.

As we learn more about what Doctors Without Borders does, we are able to understand why WILL WORK FOR FOOD enjoys working with them so much. Hopefully, you will decide to take a few minutes and get started on supporting these two great organizations today!

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."

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Natural disasters increase malnutrition

Food For Thought: Countries affected by natural disasters often see an increase in malnutrition among children.

The recent earthquake in Haiti has left over one million people without sufficient shelter or substantial access to food and water. The earthquake destroyed the country's infrastructure and has left the population reliant on international aid.

It was estimated that approximately 20 percent of kids in Haiti were undernourished before the earthquake. The current crisis is expected to make these numbers skyrocket since the earthquake disrupted reliable access to food and water.

Children under the age of five are the most likely to become severely malnourished because they need so many nutrients for proper growth and development. If a child becomes malnourished they are then more susceptible to other dangerous health concerns facing the people of Haiti such as fatal respiratory and bacterial infections.

WILL WORK FOR FOOD raises money to help our affiliate Doctors Without Borders fight malnutrition. Although we used to specifically support their work in Darfur, we recently branched out to help in other regions of the world as well.

Doctors Without Borders is on the ground in Haiti working around the clock to help save Haitians that are desperately in need. The WILL WORK FOR FOOD Team is distraught by the crisis in Haiti and ready to support our affiliate organization by helping to fund their efforts. This is why we are now giving our participants the option of designating the funds they raise through WILL WORK FOR FOOD to be used in Haiti.

Visit our website to Get Involved and for more information on how to support Doctors Without Borders in Haiti through WILL WORK FOR FOOD.

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."

Participant of the Week: Amy Verhey

Amy Verhey is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Not only is Amy a campus representative for the university, but with the help of over 6 sponsors, she has also raised a substantial amount of money for WILL WORK FOR FOOD. Since Amy is so active with WWFF on her campus, we wanted to know more about her involvement in her own words and here's what she had to share:

Q: What are you studying at UW-Madison?
A: I'm currently undecided, but I'm interested in psychology, communications, and Spanish. After I graduate I would like to continue my education in graduate school.

Q: What's your favorite book?
A: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Q: What is your favorite band?
A: Dashboard Confessional

Q: What is something you would like to do before you graduate?
A: I really want to study abroad in Spain and travel all over Europe. I think it would be an amazing experience!

Q: What else are you involved in at UW-Madison?
A: I'm the Vice President of Communications for my sorority, Pi Beta Phi. I'm also a member of the Dietetics and Nutrition Club, as well as Associated Women of Communications.

Q: How did you find out about WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: I found out about WWFF through my sorority. After hearing about its great purpose, I decided to become a campus representative and help spread the word throughout campus.

Q: What has been your most successful work effort?
A: I volunteer at Wisconsin Public Television. I primarily help during the network's telethons by answering phones and receiving donations. Through these telethons, I also got sponsors to sponsor me using the WILL WORK FOR FOOD website. I e-mailed my family and friends, and was thrilled that so many people were willing to donate to such a great cause such as child malnutrition.

Q: As UW-Madison's campus rep, what kinds of projects do you have planned for this semester?
A: We are going to plan a large event for the beginning of the semester to really get people involved. We have so many student groups and individuals who are signed up to help us kick off our first work effort of the semester!

Q: Why are you interested in participating in WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: When I heard about WWFF I joined immediately and am so glad I did. The malnutrition epidemic is such an important issue that definitely deserves more attention than it currently receives, and I think that WWFF does a great job spreading the word to colleges all across the nation. Since all the money we raise goes directly towards Doctors Without Borders and the purchase of Plumpy'nut, I know that my contribution really will make a huge difference.

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

Lucy's experience is a perfect example of how you can have an impact in your local community while fighting child malnutrition with WILL WORK FOR FOOD.

Register at http://www.willworkforfood.org/user/register today and start working for food! Try using the "Get Sponsors" email to find friends and family to sponsor your work.

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."

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.

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?

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.