Kids make a difference in the war on hunger

Don Teague Correspondent • Profile

BRIGHTON, Iowa - If you sometimes get the feeling kids today only care about themselves, then maybe you should take a road trip to Brighton, Iowa, where a few nights each month dozens of children, heck, even teenagers, roll up their sleeves, don hair nets and go to work making meals for for hungry children thousands of miles away.

"It's changing them on the inside," says Don Fields. "Every one of these kids will want to come back and do this again."

Don Fields launched this operation two years ago, after a mission trip with his wife to Honduras. It's part of a national Christian program called Kids Against Hunger.

The Iowa kids have shipped container-loads of meals to places like Guatemala, Romania and Ethiopia.

"It helps them so they won't die," says 7-year-old volunteer Noah.

"I like doing it," adds 15-year-old Brianna. "It's really fun to know you are making a difference in the world."

And they are making a difference. To date, the kids have sent some 200,000 specially formulated meals overseas. Nationwide, Kids Against Hunger has prepared and shipped nearly 30 million meals.

So why not just have a can drive and have kids bring in food from the grocery store? Well, it turns out, kids don't always make the best food choices. Kids Against Hunter prepares a high-tech mixture of carbohydrates, protein and vitamins, which provides maximum nutrition and is easily digestible for sick and starving people.

It's more science than kids like 7-year-old Johanna can understand.

"I like to help others," she says. "I also like to share."

But sharing and having fun are values that all kids understand — and some put to work.