In 1947, just two years after the end of the Second World War, Maine shipyards were working on making new fishing trawlers for France. Many had been lost during the war.
When the ships were completed, the next step was, of course, to send them across the Atlantic. But there was something missing. It seemed like such a waste to send the trawlers with no cargo.
So all the rotary clubs in Maine got together and collected a huge donation of food and clothing for the people of France, to be sent to France with the trawlers. The influential syndicated newspaper columnist Drew Pearson reported about the donation in newspapers.
These food donations from Maine meant a lot to France, which was still recovering from World War II. In fact, that same year drought had struck parts of Europe, causing even more food shortages and slowing the region’s recovery.
Americans donated thousands of tons of food to Europe via the Friendship Train, the boxcars of which ran coast to coast in the fall of 1947. Although Maine was not able to be a stop on the Friendship Train route because of its northern location, Maine residents did donate money to the effort.
Sending food donations by ship gave Maine a chance to put its own unique signature on America’s generous outpouring of support for Europe; food from Maine and America gave Europeans hope they could recover from the war. Without food, you cannot rebuild from war.
Food was the key ingredient that fueled the Marshall Plan, which ultimately rebuilt Europe. As U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall said in the speech initiating the aid plan: “Food is the very basis of all reconstruction. Hunger and insecurity are the worst enemies of peace.”
Maine made a momentous contribution to building peace after World War II with its food donations to Europe.
Today we must remember this powerful example of generosity because we are facing the biggest global hunger crisis since the end of WWII.
There are 345 million people worldwide facing severe hunger. Drought in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, wars in Sudan and Yemen, unrest in Haiti and other countries have led to hunger emergencies.
So massive is the hunger crisis today that the U.N. World Food Program is often short on resources to feed everyone in need. The WFP had been forced to reduce rations in some countries. These are very difficult decisions to make; everybody who needs food is desperate for help.
In Palestine there is even danger of ceasing the WFP food assistance program because of the lack of funding. Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and many other countries have suffered from lack of funding for hunger relief.
This is where your advocacy can turn things around by speaking up about the hunger crisis. You can hold your own fundraiser for charities like the WFP, CARE, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, Mary’s Meals, Rhode Island-based Edesia and others. You can write letters to Congress urging funding for global food aid.
Playing the World Food Program’s online learning game FreeRice raises donations, too. The University of Illinois, Mount St. Joseph University, Sinclair Community College, University of Missouri, University of Cincinnati and others have FreeRice teams to raise donations for WFP. Every Maine school could participate.
Everyone can make a difference by taking action like Maine residents did in the aftermath of World War II. If we are to overcome this global hunger crisis, we need everyone helping.
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