Great Lakes Coalition

DEARBORN - Schoolchildren from Northville and inner-city Detroit joined forces to learn about world hunger and do something about it through the Kids Against Hunger Michigan Coalition "Michigan Project."

Seven food packaging events, including event yesterday event at the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, brought together young people from different experiences and cultures to work and learn at Detroit area landmarks.

During the food packaging events, students worked together on an assembly line to measure, mix, weigh and seal 13.8-ounce bags of nutritious rice-soy casserole mix that can each feed six adults or 12 children. One-third of the food from each packaging event goes to local food banks to help those in need in the community, one-third goes to feed the starving in Third World countries, and one-third goes to help those in the U.S. and worldwide struck by natural disaster.

When the 100-plus students from Winchester Elementary School in Northville and Holbrook Elementary School in Hamtramck visited the AANM yesterday (1/27) to package food for Kids Against Hunger, they also toured the museum to learn about Arab American history and culture. This is especially meaningful, given that nearly 85 percent of the students at Holbrook are of Arab descent.

"What is so great about Kids Against Hunger is the opportunity for students from both schools to interact with peers whose experiences and culture are different than their own, and at the same time help others in need," said Holbrook Principal Michael Zygmontowicz. "This means a lot to our students because they are so often the ones receiving the help. At the Arab American National Museum, our students will be able to learn alongside Northville students and share their culture and history."

"The Kids Against Hunger experience shared with Holbrook allows students from both schools to meet kids close up and personal from a culture different than their own and yet, not so far from home," Winchester Principal Pat Messing said. "Meeting people face-to-face gives us a different perspective, it makes a culture we are not familiar with real, and the experience informs."

Young people are a very important audience for the AANM, with students and teachers making up nearly half of the 50,000 people who visit the museum each year. The museum is the first in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture.

"We're proud to host an event that will directly impact the hungry here in Metro Detroit and in other parts of the world, while also encouraging our young people to get involved in volunteer service," said Anan Ameri, museum director.

This marks the fourth year Northville and Detroit students will come together to package food for Kids Against Hunger as part of a partnership with Bridgepointe (a local non-profit organization that brings together schoolchildren from different backgrounds to learn and work), the Plymouth Kiwanis, the Conrad Charitable Foundation, Mothers' Club of Northville, and other local school and community groups.

Kids Against Hunger is an international, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to providing food to malnourished and starving children throughout the world, including right here in Metro Detroit. The organization partners with local schools, churches and other community groups to organize food packaging events where as many as 20,000 meals can be assembled in a three-hour period. Through the Kids Against Hunger "Michigan Project," which specially tailors food-packaging events to the school setting, last year alone Michigan school children assembled more than 1.1 million meals.

"Through Kids Against Hunger, students learn that hunger is a world problem and that we have a responsibility to contribute to its solution," said Kids Against Hunger Michigan Coalition President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Donald Burwell. "Ultimately, these children experience the joy of hands-on giving — a lesson we believe will influence a lifetime of thinking and behavior."

For additional details about the Kids Against Hunger Michigan Coalition and other southeast Michigan food packaging events taking place through April 7, visit www.kidsagainsthungercoalition.com or www.bridgepointenonprofit.org.