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.