US-India Organizations Collaborate To Fight Child Hunger
WASHINGTON, DC- A new partnership between US anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength and India-focused humanitarian groups aims to expand school nutrition programmes across India and other developing nations, with leaders from both countries calling child hunger a “solvable problem” requiring greater collaboration.
The initiative was highlighted during a “Purposeful Private Dinner” hosted in Washington by Share Our Strength and One World One Family Mission, where philanthropists, chefs, entrepreneurs, and social sector leaders discussed ways to address child hunger and expand access to school meals.
Speaking at the event, Billy Shore, founder and executive chair of Share Our Strength, said the organization’s work in India had grown rapidly in recent years.
“So, to date, we have reached about 600,000 kids in India with 30 million meals, I believe. And just in the last two and a half, three years by doing this work,” Shore said.
He said the organization had expanded beyond small grants and was building a wider support network in India through partnerships, advocacy, and culinary initiatives.
“One of the reasons why we chose India to work in primarily is because government supports school meals. There’s a growing strong culinary industry. It’s a strong economy,” Shore said.
The event brought together Madhusudan Sai, founder of One World One Family Mission; Rahul Vinod, co-founder of Indian restaurant chain Rasa DC; and award-winning chef Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto.
Sai, whose organization runs free nutrition, healthcare, and education initiatives across multiple countries, said hunger could only be addressed through cooperation among governments, businesses, and civil society.
“I truly believe it’s not the government who should make this happen. It is not a huge organization that make it happen. It is people who can make this happen,” Sai said. He also called for stronger engagement with Indian state governments to help scale school meal programmes.
“I would want you to join us in talking to the state governments in India,” Sai said while addressing Share Our Strength leaders.
During the event, Share Our Strength announced plans to incubate a separate international-focused entity called “Strength Global” over the next 18 months.
“Share our strength is going to incubate over the next 18 months, a sister organisation we’re gonna call it Strength Global,” Shore said.
The new entity will focus on India and international partnerships, while Share Our Strength continues its anti-hunger work in the United States.
According to event materials, One World One Family Mission operates nutrition, healthcare, and education programs across 100 countries. Its Annapoorna Breakfast Program provides free morning nutrition to more than 10 million school children across India, covering over 150,000 schools in 25 states and four Union Territories.
Share Our Strength, founded in 1984 in response to the Ethiopian famine, is known in the United States for its “No Kid Hungry” campaign, which works to expand access to school meals and child nutrition programs. (IANS)
