The Power of Youth and the Winnable Battle Against Global Hunger

On Monday night I had the opportunity to share a stage with the great Arianna Huffington and the always inspirational, Josette Sheeran. I was so grateful to spend time with such amazing women and to discuss a topic I love, the World Food Programme's "Fill the Cup" campaign and school feeding program. I've worked with the WFP for 3 years now and have been fortunate enough to become one of their Ambassadors Against Hunger.

It's heartbreaking to picture the number of children suffering from hunger around the world and one of the many reasons I love teaming up with Josette is because of her always optimistic outlook on the solution. How can Josette sit in that room and say that this battle against hunger is "winnable" when the number of children dying from it is so vast? Well, she shares the facts to support that statement beautifully, and I'll leave that to her. But for me, when I see a room full of people eager to learn how to fight global hunger, when I've taken the field trips and seen the effect of the WFP in action, I am overwhelmed and I see the truth in her statement -- this is a winnable battle.

When I donated money to the WFP on Oprah, and saw an outpouring of additional donations from students, families, mothers and fathers across the US that raised an additional $500,000 for the cause -- I once again, saw the truth in her statement. And the other night at CAA, the energy in that room of people being motivated or sharing what they've already done to aid in the elimination of world hunger was palpable. Right in front of me in the audience were Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson, whose own youthful philanthropy came in the form of fashionable "Feed Bags," which in conjunction with the WFP have already fed over 40,000 children for a year in school.

One of the questions that came out of the Q&A that night was posed by a 12 year-old boy named Colin. He described the opulent wealth he's surrounded by at school and wanted to know how to make his peers aware of this global hunger issue. And I responded with "Why don't you tell me." We started to engage and I am always struck by the power of youth.

We have to fight for these children to be nurtured and encouraged. I ask for people to donate to the WFP because even a quarter can change the life of a child. Josette says that we can overcome global hunger, and with help and donations it is truly possible!

I was so happy to speak with Colin because as a young person, that's what this is about: Changing lives of children in need, as we work to shift the consciousness of anyone who is able to help or contribute in any way. If our youth don't have the priorities to help others, we are in trouble. If children who need and fundamentally deserve that right for food and education, don't get it, we are in trouble. This young generation is the future. They will be in charge. And taking care of one another is what I hope for in that future. To deliver the message of hope and actually execute it! This is possible.

It is a choice we make. It is what we teach others. What we all must practice. The world can be an overwhelming place. And I understand the human nature to be self-involved, but there are people out there like Josette who are literally changing the world. If the heroes we look up to are human, then the capacity to affect the world positively, the way they do, is possible for any human being.

So if we take a moment out of our busy lives and teach our youth, this conscious shift is possible. I ask children to contribute their ideas on how we can do big to little things to take care of these children in need. Again, they are our future and not only should we not stand in their way or look away, we should enable them to become those human heroes that we all need.

Once more, I thank Arianna for providing this platform as generously as she has. And to end by saying that any bit helps and you can either donate at Drewbarrymore.com or wfp.org.

Thank you for even taking the time to read this and I encourage us all to take care of each other.

Thank you,

Drew Barrymore

Comments

[texhall00]

The others have added their comments and are well taken. Drew your to be admired for all you've done and will be doing in the future. God bless you.
PS. Gray Gardens was an "artistic smash", darling!

[Nancy VanTwistern]

WILL SOMEONE TELL ME HOW THIS VERY OLD WOMAN CAN HELP? WHERE CAN I SEND A DONATION....OR WHAT ELSE CAN I DO????

[positivepatty]

@ Nancy Van Twistern - You can donate to the World Food Program by going to www.wfp.org/donate OR you can mail a donation to Friends of WFP at 1819 L Street NW, 900 Washington, DC 20036. You can also get a FEED bag at Whole foods. They are reusable grocery bags and the money goes to feed kids.

[jillsond]

Drew is such an inspiration on so many levels. She is perennially grateful to people, is humble and gracious. She was born to do good, and her delivery is always pure and true. This is a wonderful thing she is doing. I'm in!

[poorman]

Good job, Drew ! If only all Hollywood actors were so involved in the world ! I have followed your recent radicalization closely, and you are one of the few Hollywood actors young enough and important enough and honest with your feelings enough to keep influencing people. I hope you keep asking WHY? fearlessly, to everyone, important and not important, until the very end when there is no more reason to ask WHY? ........only then is HOW? a reasonable question. It is important to donate a million here and there, but the real question is WHY? WHY is this happening? It will take a while to figure out, and people like yourself with time, energy and influence can do it. Good Luck. Keep learning and teaching and speaking out.

[Pema]

I fear multi national corps, war lords etc. everyone needs to think outside of themselves, its our only hope for survival. too many people would rather get their kids dvd players for the mini van. we also need to educate people on compassion.

[CEDobson]

HuffPost's Pick

I am the mother of two teens. They and kids like them hear constantly from the media and read in news articles how stupid they are because the U.S. educational system is so inadequate. What this has done to their self-esteem is criminal. Drew, I was very happy to read your article with a tribute to kids today and what they are doing for their country and others.

I was extremely naive in believing that hunger mostly only existed in other countries until my kids started bringing other kids to our house for a meal. My heart breaks every time a teen shows up at my door and says "we have no food at our house, can I eat here?"

Thank you for having faith in our kids and for bringing this issue to the forefront.

[1Eco]

Thank you Drew for all you are doing on this most important global effort.

Looking over the wfp.org site I noticed food purchase for disaster & war relief was an important aspect of the assistance effort. I also reviewed the stories from the deep field to learn water, farming, & distribution or major areas of concern.

As local farmers are assisted to grow food, perhaps that food could then be processed and store by a local co-op. With regard to relief. There is no one better for teaching non-profit team members and local builders how to utilize materials around them than these Eco pros, http://tw5.us/bf Shelter matters.

The best water drilling team is http://tw5.us/bh.us/bh Water wells matter.

Moving water 2 the fields & fertigation is important. Best solar team for the job here.. http://tw5.us/bi

My guess is all of these working teams would be more than willing to work with Josette, You, and Arianna on these global issues on a project by project basis as synergy in hard hit areas affords optimal use of limited resources. All Executive Directors, Co. owners, & non-profit working partner details found here... http://tw5.us/bk

With regard to fund raising. A global music festival might work. With you three behind it talent may respond. A little Peace, Love, & Rock & Roll might just be what we need. If it's for a worthy cause, it might provide the ideal annual gathering.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

Focus on hunger inside the United States.


It's far more constructive and likely to succeed than in countries in Africa, where successful economies are intentionally destroyed by dictators like Mugabe and enabled by apologists in South Africa.

[Pema]

I agree to a point,. we dont know what child saved will grow up with the deep understanding that people who didnt know him came in and had the compassion to save him, perhaps thats the one growing up to oust guys like that. that being said, people forget 1 in 5 children in this country live in poverty, something i sent in as a post but never made it on the board. (censored for what I dont know)we must adress our own children as well, the us needs good healthy children to grow up, keep our nation strong and be prosperous enough to give to help other nations in times of need.

[Kristen777]

Great work, Drew! It's so wonderful when those who have access to the media make noble use of it.

BTW, you were fantastic in Grey Gardens! Jessica Lange too! Love it, love it, love it!!

[Classof89]

Thanks, Drew, for the wonderful post and bringing WFP's "Fill the Cup" campaign further needed attention. Great cause.

[DumbDad]

Meanwhile, "Bread for the World", started by the late Dem Senator Paul Simon of Illinois and others, reaches out through churches (yep, those guys!) to gain help from ordinary citizens to ADVOCATE for the hungry in Congress. You can help today simply by writing to your representatives to encourage the expansion of the USAID program for development. The Foreign Assistance Act of l961 is up for renewal for the first time in ages this year. Please help. This could be huge, and it is also a way to GIVE. But let's GIVE as Drew urges.

[RadicalRepublican]

Drew,

Sadly you hit the nail on the head when you said, "it is a choice we make." At the risk of coming off as a cynic, I've recognized that to some, everything is about power. We have the resources to feed everybody in the world. We also have medical supplies abundantly enough to vaccinate and heal great multitudes of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. Unfortunately, the prime movers use hunger and disease as a control tool. When people are desperate, they are malleable. Without the poor, the rich wouldn’t have anybody to control.

Good luck in your worthy endeaver.

[AbrahamSadegh]

ET did not "Go Home." Its spirit lives in Drew.

It is a blessing to see a great number of our Stars who bring joy to our lives are also involved in variety of worthy causes positively affecting countless human beings both at home an abroad.

I believe we will ultimately succeed in utilizing our Freedom of Choice to move in the direction of sharing the blessings of our planet for the benefit of all mankind.

[PancakeMountain]

"Fill the Cup" is a wonderful campaign we all need to know more about.
Thanks for the well written post.

[2morrowKnight]

Great post Drew! I love what you're doing!

[positivepatty]

This is so inspiring! It's so important that we help Fill the Cup and let others know what a difference they can make! I have been using Freerice.com in the classroom with my students to help out. It's a game with vocabulary quizzes then donates free rice to the world food program to fill the cup! It is such a cool learning tool and my students are helping other kids. Every little bit helps!