feeding the hungry
World Vision is grateful for the many partnerships with churches, corporations, foundations, the United States government, and private donors that help us feed hungry people. Some donations are given in response to urgent appeals when populations are at risk of starvation and its accompanying health problems. Others give to improve agricultural and farm animal production that lead to secure food resources for families over time.
An Enduring Partnership Fills Empty Stomachs
Love Loaf has been a World Vision program since 1973 used primarily by churches to raise funds to involve congregations in a life-changing experience to serve the poor. The plastic-formed bank/loaf of bread is a symbol everyone from the youngest child can understand. Families and individuals take a Love Loaf home and fill it with coins and bills for one month.
 World Vision supplies the church with materials and bulletin inserts that inform congregants about the project they are supporting. The gifts are then gathered and a percentage is returned to World Vision while a portion is kept by the church to fund its local outreach to the needy.
One denomination, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, has effectively used Love Loaves since 1983 in an annual campaign to raise money for World Vision and local needs. Some 240 of Cumberland’s churches participate in the drive. The Rev. Don Tabor, pastor of Cumberland Presbyterian’s Brentwood,Tennessee, congregation, recommends Love Loaf because it "gives people a sense of being able to touch more lives." The denomination believes the program has given them the opportunity to cooperate in a way that makes a significant difference in the world and in the communities they serve.
World Vision is thankful for Cumberland Presbyterian’s gifts that have helped fill empty stomachs around the world in places like Romania, Rwanda, North Korea, and Kosovo, raising some $1.5 million over 17 years.
U.S. Government Funds Agriculture Projects
World Vision’s Morulem Irrigation Program has received assistance from USAID since 1991.The project has helped 1,228 house-holds -- 7,000 people living in the arid Turkana District of Kenya -- grow their own food through improved irrigation. Crops raised by villagers include maize, sorghum, and assorted vegetables. Ohio Congressman Tony Hall, who visited the Morulem site in August, said he was pleased to see that the local people were involved in a successful effort to grow their own food.
Another USAID-funded program this year enabled World Vision to repair 90 broken combines in Kosovo. This agriculture project has revitalized the farms and livelihoods of farmers who lost everything in recent conflict. Recipient Isa Berisha, exclaimed, "My combine is at the heart of my work. Now I say to World Vision: ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed.’"
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