For 19 years, the Kids Can Make a Difference program (KIDS) has been helping kids and their teachers take action against hunger and poverty. Originally a program of WhyHunger, KIDS found a new home in 2010 with iEARN, and has grown steadily since then. WhyHunger is pleased to be part of KIDS’ latest project latest project: the Finding Solutions to Poverty and Inequality Alliance.
KIDS founder Larry Levine explains:
We feel that the time has come for teachers and students to use the KIDS teacher guide, Finding Solutions To Hunger (FSH), as a launching pad into a wider association with the leading nonprofit hunger and poverty organizations. As the guide is structured, teachers and students develop their own projects demonstrating what they have learned and putting that knowledge to work to help alleviate the scourge of hunger and poverty in their community and world. While we feel that the present approach is good, there is an enhancement that is beneficial for the students and educators involved in FSH.
We believe that we need to enlist the experts in the field of hunger and poverty to become involved in helping educators understand that there are ways for them to join ongoing projects that go beyond what the teacher guide offers. We understand the time restraints that teachers currently face and feel that having a ready-made menu of projects available to them is a logical next step for KIDS and FSH.
We took our concept to four of the leading antihunger organizations: WhyHunger, Heifer International, Oxfam and World Savvy and invited them to join us as the Finding Solutions to Poverty and Inequality Alliance. We are delighted that all of them enthusiastically embraced the initiative — and we have now also been joined by Food Tank and RESULTS Educational Fund.
With the support and blessing of our partners, we have unveiled a new addition to the KIDS website called Suggested Actions. Each member of the Alliance has a personal page describing ongoing projects that are available for students and teachers to use as extensions of their classroom work. These projects offer a diversity of ways that students can make a difference in their community and world, and some provide the opportunity to dialog with experts in the field.
To learn more about Suggested Actions and/or become active in the Finding Solutions to Poverty and Inequality Alliance, please contact Larry Levine. We welcome all who want to become part of the solution.
