Visiting Speaker Talks to Union College Community about World Hunger

Abby Jansen, District Coordinator for Bread for the World, spoke at Union on November 2.

During a presentation intended to raise awareness about global poverty and hunger, Abby Jansen shared some startling statistics: 1 in 5 people in the world lives on less than one dollar a day, 852 million people suffer from hunger and 11 million children die every year of preventable causes.

As District Coordinator for Bread for the World and the One Campaign, Ms. Jansen is a storehouse of facts and figures. She visited Union’s campus on November 2 to talk with staff, faculty, and students about these international initiatives. The One Campaign has garnered public attention, in large part because of the celebrity involvement of U2’s Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates. The campaign’s purpose is to “rally Americans around the emergency of widespread hunger, global AIDS and extreme poverty.” Bread for the World is a founding partner of One. Its goal is to bring together individuals, communities and faith groups to alleviate hunger both domestically and globally.

According to Ms. Jansen, Bread for the World and One hope to “raise voices rather than money.” Both organizations believe that Americans care deeply about world hunger and related issues, but are not communicating their concerns to elected officials. As such, Bread and One representatives speak to groups across the country and organize letter-writing campaigns. So far this year, more than 300,000 letters have been sent to elected officials as a result of their efforts.

Ms. Jansen’s appearance at Union College was coordinated by the Common Partners office. For more information about Union or Common Partners, visit www.unionky.edu. The One Campaign’s website is www.one.org. Bread for the World can be found at www.bread.org.

November 3rd, 2006

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