Frequently Asked Questions

How was Kids Against Hunger started?
The organization was founded in March 1999 by Richard Proudfit, a successful entrepreneur. In 1974 Richard volunteered on a medical mission to Honduras after Hurricane Fifi had ravaged that country. Profoundly affected by the starvation he saw among the children there, he made a decision to commit his life and financial resources to solving the enormous problem of world hunger. His life's work became clear to him— feed these starving children.

What is so special about the food you package?
The meal ingredients are formulated by food scientists to provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates and vitamins needed by an undernourished child's body and mind. The food is also acceptable to the broad diversity of ethnic tastes and religious differences around the world. The food offers all nine of the essential amino acids required for complete nutrition, something that can't be said about other typical food relief sources such as rice or beans alone. It is also very simple to prepare, requiring only six cups of boiling water to make a complete meal.

What types of people volunteer to package the food?
While our name implies that kids are the source of our volunteers, in practice our volunteers come from all age groups and walks of life. Individuals and groups from churches, synagogues, schools, social clubs, businesses, senior centers and civic groups are common sources of volunteers for packaging our food. Some of the best volunteer experiences come when children, parents and grandparents work together as a family. Schools and corporations often do packaging with us as a community service event.

How does the food get to hungry children, and how can you be sure it gets to them?
We work closely with our distribution partners - churches, nonprofit organizations and U.S. government agencies operating in poor countries - to distribute the meals prepared by our volunteers. We seek out organizations that have proven track records of successfully getting the food to the children and keeping it out of the hands of corrupt government officials and criminals. We always require our feeding partners to document how they distributed the food and provide us with pictures of the children who receive it. When possible, we travel to these destinations ahead of time to meet the people and confirm the logistics.

Where have you sent your food?
A partial list of the countries that have received our food are Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, Columbia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Tanzania and the Ukraine. We also shipped more than 1,000,000 of our meals to the Hurricane Katrina stricken Gulf Coast region in the U.S. In 2008, our 40 million meals were shipped to over 40 countries.

As a Christian organization, do you require the children you feed to be Christians, or your volunteers to be Christians?
No. We have only one test to feed a child ~ "is the child hungry?"  We have only one test for accepting volunteers ~ "does the volunteer want to help feed hungry children?"

We require any organization that distributes our food to give the food freely out of love for the child. To do otherwise would be a fundamental betrayal of our core beliefs.

How do you raise the money for your food?
It costs Kids Against Hunger about 25 cents to produce each meal. That means when we ship a cargo container (about 285,000 meals) to a country, it costs our operation $71,250. Trucking, shipping and transport are additional costs unless they can be donated. As a nonprofit organization we raise all our funds from the generosity of individual donors, corporations, community benefactors, places of worship, and foundations. Quite simply, the more money we receive from donors, the more children we can feed.

Is my donation to Kids Against Hunger and A Child's Hope International tax deductible?
A Child's Hope International, Inc & Kids Against Hunger of Cincinnati is registered as a non-profit, tax exempt organization within the State of Ohio and is approved by IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization with complete tax-exempt status. As a donor, this means your contributions are fully tax-deductible to the amount allowed by law.

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