Ed. Notes- like many things in life there's a backstory when it comes to the unique relationship that KIDS shares with WhyHunger. Over 25 years ago, Jane and I appeared on the doorsteps of WhyHunger's offices in New York City. The very first person we came in contact with was Noreen Springstead who at that time acted as receptionist and general all around person. Speed forward two years and Noreen could be seen busily typing first drafts of the KIDS Teacher Guide. The rest is history as Noreen is now the executive director of WhyHunger and KIDS is now a program of iEARN. The relationship that was established all those years ago has made both organizations grow closer together with each passing year. The comments contained in the message we received from Noreen reflect KIDS feelings and hopefully yours.
Noreen's Note to KIDS
By Noreen Springstead
Dear Larry & Jane
We hope your new year is off to a great start! Work for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice doesn’t take place on one day or one month. It is a constant drive that we are each called to participate in ways that speak to our own conscience and innate desire to do good in our world. Recent celebrations of Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us again of the legacy of a great man who worked tirelessly for civil rights and economic justice.
WhyHunger sees these issues as deeply interconnected given that the root cause of hunger is poverty and poverty disproportionately affects communities of color. Thousands of our grassroots partners are working right at the intersection of hunger with economic and racial justice and our movement is growing stronger. Food is the starting point. Working to ensure food as a basic human right so that all people can live with dignity and opportunity creates a much better world for all of us. Without food it is hard to learn, grow, and succeed.
Dr. King left us too soon and his unfinished work for economic justice leaves us to write a new chapter that centers the profound dignity of every human at the core of our work. Dr. King said “Let us be dissatisfied until every man can have food and material necessities for his body, culture and education for his mind, freedom and human dignity for his spirit.”
We are looking forward to a positive 2018 in partnership with you.
~Noreen
