Event Highlight: UNC at the Piedmont Wildlife Center

As the school year comes to a close, the WILL WORK FOR FOOD reps continue to organize outstanding work efforts on their campus. Last fall, the WWFF group at UNC-Chapel Hill volunteered at the Piedmont Wildlife Center, a local nature conservatory.

This past Saturday, the group took a break from studying for their finals and returned to the conservatory once again to help the organization kick off their largest event of the year. The WWFF group, although small, was enthusiastic as they helped the Piedmont Wildlife Center run their annual "Celebrate Wildlife" benefit, a popular event that includes live music, animals, food, activities, and educational presentations.

Volunteers worked together to set up the benefit, doing everything from building stages and exhibits, organizing the parking, and cleaning up the grounds. The group has raised $100 so far, but more donations continue to come in.

Thanks, UNC-Chapel Hill for yet another successful work effort!

Do you want to bring the WWFF initiative to your high school or college? Become a 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."

Working Together: WILL WORK FOR FOOD and OneMichigan

On Friday, April 9th, members of the WILL WORK FOR FOOD Headquarters Team volunteered with members of OneMichigan, another service group stationed at the University of Michigan. OneMichigan is a great organization that connects different student initiatives with one another. The group headed to Food Gatherers, an Ann Arbor food bank, and helped out at the warehouse where all the collected food is sorted and stored. Volunteers worked together to divide up bulk carrot cake mix into two pound bags so that it can be distributed to and used by local agencies and shelters.

It's not too late to get involved! Register and become a member 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."

Dance for a Chance: The Sylvania Southview High School Dance Marathon

The WILL WORK FOR FOOD initiative continues to thrive at high schools and colleges across the country. On Saturday March 27th, students at Sylvania Southview High School in Ohio blew us away with their energy, passion and effective fundraising efforts. 316 students participated in the school's fourth annual Dance Marathon, an event in which students give up part of their weekend and come to school to learn about troubles in our world, compete in a variety of activities and "Dance for a Chance." All without sitting down over the 12 hour stretch. Leading up to the event participants asked friends, family, neighbors, local businesses and congregations to sponsor their involvement with donations.

Molly Morse, a Sylvania Southview Alum and WWFF Headquarters team member at the University of Michigan, participated in Southview's "Dance for a Chance" in years past and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to raise funds for WILL WORK FOR FOOD. After explaining the WWFF initiative to Noah Bader, a Junior at Southview, Noah convinced his classmates to dedicate fundraising efforts this year to combat hunger and malnutrition. They decided for half of the funds raised to benefit their local community food bank and half to benefit malnourished kids abroad through WWFF.

Sylvania Southview has a history of raising a large amount of money through their dance marathons. Last year, the high schoolers raised $20,000, and this year they were determined to do even better. The students set the goal of $25,000: an ambitious goal, but by no means unattainable for a driven group of students with a great fundraising model. The students split into four teams (blue, red, green and orange) in order to create a friendly competition. Each team was led by student captains who helped recruit participants and organized fundraising activities during the school year.

After months of planning, March 27th finally rolled around and the 316 participants piled into the school's cafeteria decked out in their team's colors with spirited outfits. In addition to their fundraising efforts, participants also brought canned goods to donate to their local food bank.

The cans were used in a competition between the teams in which they built structures using the canned goods. The students used their creativity to form all different shapes and formations. One of the teams used their cans to form an outline of Africa with the word "HOPE" in the middle to help inspire the dancers and remind everyone what they were there for.

Molly and Steve Weinberg (WWFF CEO) went down to Sylvania during the event to teach the students a little more about malnutrition and how WWFF fights it. To illustrate the gravity of the malnutrition epidemic, Molly put things into perspective for the students. "Every 6 seconds, a child dies because of malnutrition," she told the group.

"Right now, there are 316 people in this room. That means that if you were all severely malnourished, it would only take 31 minutes for everyone in this room to die of malnutrition. In the 12 hours of the dance marathon, a total of 7,200 children will have died of malnutrition." The participants were stunned by the presentation, and although the statistics were difficult to hear, it seemed to help the students understand exactly how important their efforts are on a global scale.

"When I listened to the WILL WORK FOR FOOD presentation, I was really glad that Dance for a Chance was donating money to its cause. Some of the statistics Steve and Molly shared were a huge wake-up call about the type of problem that hunger and malnutrition are in the world," said Andrew Rothschild, a Senior at Sylvania Southview. "The organization really is doing a lot of good towards fighting a serious, yet often ignored problem." Eric Wolff, also a Southview Senior, told us "the presentation helped us realize why we do Dance for a Chance. We definitely picked the right organization to work with."

At 11:30pm (eleven and a half hours into the marathon) the participants gathered together and listened attentively to Steve Swaggerty, the teacher advisor for the event, announce the final amount raised. The students surpassed their initial goal of $25,000 and raised a grand total of over $30,806! Half of which ($15,403) to be donated to WILL WORK FOR FOOD. "To be honest, I got teary-eyed when I heard how much money we raised. It's amazing that only 300 people can make such a difference, " said Amy Horowitz, a Junior at Southview. "It felt great to not only reach a group goal, but to know that we're affecting the lives of so many other people that don't have the same opportunities we do. It's a truly touching experience."

We at WILL WORK FOR FOOD can't express how grateful we are to the students of Sylvania Southview High School for their passion, energy and incredible contribution to the WWFF initiative (their dance moves aren't bad either, check them out in the video below). With the end of the school year approaching, this really builds momentum for the summer and next school year. With the help of two other high schools in Portland and Baltimore, we expect to have a total of $50,000 raised by the end of April!

Are you interested in hosting a similar event at your school? Contact Molly Morse at mollyrm@umich.edu and get it started 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."

Participant of the Week: Shelby Cashman

The WILL WORK FOR FOOD Greek Week Service Day at the University of Michigan was a huge success thanks to the incredible efforts and donations from all its participants and their supporters. Over 150 students volunteered in the Ann Arbor community and raised nearly $3,000 to fight malnutrition. Among all of the participants, one particular Sigma Kappa stands out from the crowd. Shelby Cashman, a freshman from Morristown, NJ, personally raised $1,000 with the help of a dozen sponsors! Shelby, who volunteers regularly in her community, has shown an incredible devotion to community service and the WILL WORK FOR FOOD initiative. To thank Shelby for her outstanding work, she is this week's Participant of the Week.

Q: What are you studying at Michigan?
A: I'm a Communications major with a possible minor in Greek studies. I eventually want to become involved in broadcast journalism.

Q: What else are you involved in at Michigan?
A: I'm in Sigma Kappa sorority, the Michigan Association of Communication Studies, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars here on campus.

Q: If you could meet anyone, who would it be and why?
A: I would love to meet Katie Couric. I aspire to have the incredible career she has in broadcast journalism. I would ask her about the steps she took to get where she is today (and I would follow them exactly, of course).

Q: Who is your role model?
A: My role model is my father. He grew up with not much at all and created an amazing life for me and my family. He is also one of the most intelligent (he always knows every answer to every Jeopardy question- no lie!) and charismatic people I know.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I would travel all over Greece, from Athens to the Islands. I am studying the language and really want to immerse myself in the culture and learn more about my heritage!

Q: How did you get so many people to sponsor you?
A: I got so many people to sponsor me by reaching out to all different members of the Michigan community, as well as my hometown. I told people about what we were doing for WILL WORK FOR FOOD, and everyone was really eager to help sponsor me for such an amazing cause.

Q: What exactly did you do for the service day?
A: I participated in publicity for the Ann Arbor Autism Foundation on Service Day for Greek Week. We passed out brochures about the organization to local doctor's offices to spread the word. I also volunteered at Brookhaven Nursing Home, where we threw the occupants a Valentine's Day party.

Q: What was your favorite aspect of service day?
A: My favorite thing about participating was the fact that I got to help so many different causes, all at the same time. My service efforts in the community benefit people locally, but with the addition of WILL WORK FOR FOOD's involvement, malnourished children on the other-side of the world are benefiting from my labor as well.

Q: Why did you decide to get involved with WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: WWFF is a one-of-a-kind program. It allows people's service efforts to benefit so many different people. Not many people realize how severe the issue of malnutrition is, and WWFF brings it to the front line. By bringing people's attention to this serious problem, WILL WORK FOR FOOD is helping the fight by making people want to not only do local community service, but get involved in a more serious global problem.

Still not a member of WILL WORK FOR FOOD? Get signed up and start working 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."

University of Michigan Greeks Work For Food

This past weekend, WILL WORK FOR FOOD collaborated with one of the largest student groups at the University of Michigan: Greek life. Once a year, sorority and fraternity members at the university participate in a week-long competition called Greek Week. One of the events was a WWFF-sponsored service day in which each team volunteered for one of fourteen different service projects. Over 150 Greeks participated in what campus rep Nicole Vitale called an "amazing success of a service day." Some of the projects included:

- painting rooms at the Penrickton Center for Blind Children
-distributing informational pamphlets for the Ann Arbor Autism Foundation
-blanket-making for the Ronald McDonald House
-tutoring high school students for the Jalen Rose Foundation
-working at a luncheon at the Glacier Hills Retirement Home

In partnering with Greek Week, WILL WORK FOR FOOD not only provided numerous great opportunities for students to volunteer, but it also helped spread the word about WWFF. Says Vitale, "By incorporating WWFF into Greek Week, UofM greeks are able to help multiple charities at once. This also raises awareness about WWFF and will hopefully spark longtime volunteers and commitment to WWFF." The WWFF/Greek Week service day is a great example of how creative collaborations with other organizations and events is a great way to spread WWFF and its initiative across campus and reach a large number of students at once. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this year's service day such a success!

It's not too late to sponsor a Greek Week volunteer! Sponsor one now!

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."

Reps of the Week: University of Wisconsin-Madison

A few weeks ago, we featured Amy Verhey as our Rep of the Week, and she told us a little about what she and the other UW-Madison reps were planning for future WWFF work efforts on their campus. The reps followed through and got creative by putting together a great bake sale that raised almost $200 for WWFF. We talked to Jamie Plzak, another Madison rep, to find out a little more about their bake sale, and here's what she told us:

Q: How did you come up with the idea for a bake sale?
A: Amy and I came up with the idea after a sorority meeting. A member of our house was having a bake sale for Haiti and we thought that it sounded like such a great idea for WWFF!

Q: Why did you decide to have a bake sale instead of a community service project?
A: We had the bake sale because we wanted to organize an effort quickly, and we figured we could pull this together faster than organizing a traditional service project. We wanted to take a more direct approach to raise money for WWFF. We knew it would be a great way to get the WILL WORK FOR FOOD name out there on campus because so may people came by the bake sale.

Q: How many people participated?
A: All the reps were there: Maryrose, Amy, and myself. There were also about 10 other people who came to help us sell throughout the day.

Q: What were everyone's attitudes like while working the bake sale?
A: Everyone's attitudes were really positive! We jokingly competed with each other about whose food looked the best, which made it really fun. It was really easy to get people to bake food for us or drop by and help sell, especially because everyone knew they were contributing to a great cause.

Q: How do you feel about the sale's success?
A: I think it was really successful! Next time we would like to have it outside during the day when the weather is nicer. I think we could definitely sell more food and get more people to sign up for WWFF at the same time.

Q: If you could describe WWFF in one word, what would it be?
A: Selfless. I can't believe how much of an impact WWFF has made in such a short time, considering how new of an organization it is. I'm honored to be a small part of that.

Thanks, Maryrose, Jamie, and Amy, for such a creative and successful work effort!

Want to get involved on your campus? Join a group and start working 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: Greg Fitzgerald

Once Washington, D.C. recovered from the massive snowstorm that temporarily delayed the Georgetown University work effort at the D.C. Central Kitchen, Greg Fitzgerald, a sophomore at the university, and the other WILL WORK FOR FOOD volunteers headed to the kitchen to finally complete their service project. Although this was their first work effort, the group raised an astounding $1,825. Greg raised almost $900 with the help of his family and friends. To thank Greg for this amazing contribution, we made him this week's Participant of the Week. We wanted to learn a little more about Greg, and here's what he had to say:

Q: What's your favorite book?
A: I would have to go with Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

Q:What's your favorite band?
A: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
A: My favorite place in world is my hometown, Franklin Square, NY, however I would love to travel around Asia because I have never been there before.

Q:Who is your role model and why?
A: I am lucky to have three role models in my life: my mom, my dad Danny, and my step-dad Edgar. I look up to them because every time I follow their advice, something positive tuns up for me, and every time I don't, I realize their suggestion was the better alternative. As long as I keep those three happy, I feel great about myself.

Q: Who did you get to sponsor you, and how did you do it?
A: We wanted to garner a significant amount of support for our first effort, so I sent out an e-mail to all my family members and close friends, hoping a few would respond. However, their overwhelming generosity surprised our team and we far surpassed our original expectations. I am very proud and thankful for such a positive response.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about your service project? What did you guys specifically do there?
A: When we first got to the kitchen, we were briefed about the general services that the D.C. Central Kitchen provides, which are truly outstanding. Their relationship with the community transcends feeding the hungry, extending their organization to become a completely holistic operation concerning all aspects of life. Our specific assignment was to skin sweet potatoes, rinse them off, and vacuum-seal them. During our shift, we prepared over 160 pounds of sweet potatoes to be used for future meals.

Q: How do you feel about the success of your first work effort?
A: Going in, I had no idea what to expect since I had never participated in such a volunteer effort before. However, I was blown away by the passion and sense of brotherhood exuded by all the other volunteers. I felt like I had a hand in something very important and felt great about the whole process.

Q: If you could describe WILL WORK FOR FOOD in one word, what would it be?
A: Exemplary, because literally anyone can start their own chapter and start making a real difference today.

We would like to congratulate Greg and all the other Georgetown reps and volunteers for such a successful first work effort. Keep up the great work!!

Got a work effort coming up? Get sponsored 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."

Rep of the Week: Dave Ferrara

Dave Ferrara, a sophomore at Georgetown University in Washington, DC., has already made a huge contribution to WILL WORK FOR FOOD by planning his first work effort and raising an outstanding amount of money from a number of sponsors. To congratulate him for the success he has had so far with his first project, we decided to highlight Dave as this week's Rep of the Week. We wanted to learn a little more about his upcoming work effort, and here's what he had to say:

Q: Can you tell us a little more about your upcoming work effort?
A: Three other participants and I are going to volunteer at the Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C. Since this is our first work effort, we hope this will be an exemplary work effort for people to refer back to in the future. Hopefully future events will include more workers.

Q: How much money have you raised from sponsors so far?
A: We've gotten about $1,250 in total as of now.

Q: Why did you decide to bring WILL WORK FOR FOOD to your campus?
A: I decided to bring WWFF to my campus because I knew Georgetown would be a very beneficial addition to WWFF. I knew we have the potential to have a very successful program here, and I wanted to be the one to lead our campus program.

Q: What was it specifically about WWFF that made you want to get involved?
A: The aspect about WWFF that is the most intriguing is the duality of the service work. Not only do our own communities benefit, but we help people whom we've never met that are equally deserving of our help.

We would just like to say how much we appreciate each and every one of our Campus Reps and the work they put into bringing WWFF to their school. Dave's contribution to WWFF as a Campus Rep is a great example of how the WWFF Rep model works and how easy it is to organize successful projects on campus. A big thank you to everyone who continues to work hard in spreading WWFF all across the nation!

Do you want to bring WWFF to your high school or college? Become a Rep and get started 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."

Leading by Example: WWFF in Ann Arbor

While the WILL WORK FOR FOOD Headquarters Team works mostly behind the scenes in spreading the WWFF initiative, we always try to practice what we preach by volunteering in our community and raising money to fight child malnutrition. Last weekend, we volunteered at the Michigan Abilities Center (MAC) in Ann Arbor. MAC is a powerful organization that develops therapy programs for children and adults who face physical, mental, emotional, or learning challenges. While there, the team learned all about MAC and helped clean, organize, and repair their training facility.

Want to join a work effort on your campus? Find a group and get started 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."

Participant of the Week: Lauren Yaffe

Since joining WILL WORK FOR FOOD, Lauren Yaffe, a 2007 graduate from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, has raised almost $500 through a variety of unique work efforts. This past weekend, Lauren participated in the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project in Chicago, Illinois. To learn more about Lauren and this very special service opportunity, we asked her a few questions and here's what she had to say:


Q: Where are you from?
A: I'm originally from Madison, WI, but now I live in Chicago, where I work for a mid-sized public and accounting firm.

Q: If you could meet one person, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
A: Oprah! I think she is such a strong and accomplished woman and I believe in a lot of the causes that she supports. I also enjoy her show and think that she would be fascinating to speak to in person.

Q: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
A: I've traveled to almost 20 countries and really enjoy going to exotic places! The coolest place I've ever traveled to was the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador.

Q: What are your favorite pastimes?
A: Working out, arts and crafts, spending time with family and friends, biking, jazz dance, and trying new restaurants in Chicago!

Q: Can you tell us a little more about your most recent work effort, the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project?
A: The Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project is to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Chicago community. Participants were able to participate in a number of projects, such as painting murals, organizing a library, and making a fresh meal for seniors. Specifically, I painted a large canvas painting which will be hung in the hallways of Bouchet Academy, a math and science elementary school in Chicago.

Q: How did you raise money for this event?
A: I raised $370 this year for the MLK Service Project. I sent out an email to close friends and family educating them about my volunteer effort and asking for donations to WWFF to sponsor my work effort.

Q: Why are you interested in helping and participating in WILL WORK FOR FOOD?
A: I think the premise of WWFF is great - I get to volunteer for causes that are important to me while getting the encouragement and support of family and friends by having them donate to a worthy cause to fight child malnutrition abroad.

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

Do you want to join WILL WORK FOR FOOD in its fight against child malnutrition? Register and get started 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: Malnutrition Kills Too Many Children

"Every year, malnutrition kills five million children - that's one child every six seconds."

This means that by the time you're done reading this sentence, a child will have died that could have been saved by a ready-to-use therapeutic food like Plumpy’nut.

What if you had the power to save some of these kids? Would you do something to help these innocent children live the long and healthy lives they deserve?

Realizing that our own personal lives are removed from the daily happenings of these severely malnourished children, we designed WILL WORK FOR FOOD to give people an opportunity to help their own communities (something we're all more familiar with) while raising relief funds to save these malnourished children.

Our "workers" volunteer in their own community and then ask friends and family members to sponsor this work with a donation. Every dollar raised helps our affiliates, Doctors Without Borders, purchase and distribute life-saving nutritional supplements to severely malnourished children.

With how connected the world is these days, we cannot just ignore this malnutrition epidemic that takes the lives of so many children. Time is ticking and kids need saving. So get involved today!

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: How far can a donation go?

In our "Food For Though" posts, we'll share a new statement or fact with you every week. We'll follow these up with some extra information and also break them down for you in order to put things in perspective.

Volunteering in your community and finding one sponsor to donate to WILL WORK FOR FOOD can help save a malnourished kid.

Our slogan is simple: volunteering locally to save children globally. Volunteer in your own community and then ask a friend or family member to "sponsor" this work with a donation. The money raised will help save malnourished children abroad.

In some of our past posts we've written about the importance of community service and also provided some suggestions of how to get involved. Now we want to let you know just how important it is to get your work sponsored and how far a donation to WILL WORK FOR FOOD can go.

In the past, the average donation from a sponsor has been about $25. For $25 we can provide a severely malnourished child in Darfur with a week of Plumpy'nut AND a height/weight check up with a doctor. It only takes three weeks of Plumpy'nut and check ups to save the life of a malnourished child.

So if you volunteer in your community and ask friends or family members to sponsor your work, you can save a severely malnourished child. Volunteering locally to save children globally. It's as simple as that.

As of December 2009, WILL WORK FOR FOOD has raised over $17,000 and has saved hundreds of kids.

WILL YOU WORK FOR FOOD?

Check out the Get Involved page to learn more. You can also visit 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."