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."

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.

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?