Help click away hunger
586,751 have signed the Feinstein Petition
to End Hunger
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- March 15, 2000 -- To raise awareness of the hunger
struggle in America, the URI Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America
will release personal, anonymous comments to show the many faces of the
hungry nationwide. Here is the first such comment:
"When I was a youngster my parents divorced. Times were tough
and my mom worked two jobs to support us. Somehow there was just never
enough money to go around. We were lucky when we got to eat oatmeal for
all three meals. I also remember going behind the grocery stores after they
closed and getting into the dumpster searching for food that the store had
thrown away. My mom took it home, cut off the bad parts, washed it and that
helped our food supply. If I can save one child from having that happen
to them or going to bed hungry, then my mission is completed. Thanks for
listening."
The comments have been gathered from concerned people around the globe
who have electronically signed the Feinstein Petition to End Hunger. Alan
Shawn Feinstein's petition to Congress and the president asks them to make
a commitment to ending hunger in America. The Cranston philanthropist
says he will continue the hunger petition drive until Congress and the president
respond to the will of the people.
The URI Center is in strong support of the petition and urges people
to sign on today at www.uri.edu/ or www.feinsteinfoundation.com/. Anyone
accessing the sites can also send a free meal daily to a hungry person with
just one click. Anyone without access to a computer can get a petition by
calling the URI Feinstein Center for a Hunger-Free America at 277-5450.
"It's a disgrace that in the greatest country in the world, there
are 30 million people who experience hunger or worry about where their next
meal is coming from. The current explosion in wealth in the U.S. has not
altered the hunger problem. It has remained the same over the past 15 to
20 years. People at the bottom of the economic ladder are not benefiting
from the booming economy," says Feinstein.
Visitors to the URI petition site are invited to share their stories
about why hunger issues are important to them to help put a face on the
issues of hunger and heighten awareness to the different hunger problems
around the globe.
The URI Hunger Center was established in 1999 as a partnership between
the University of Rhode Island and the Feinstein Foundation to move the
issue of hunger to the forefront of America's consciousness. It aims to
end hunger first in Rhode Island and then around the globe.
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For Further Information: Jan Sawyer, 401-874-2116
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