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Halloween for Hunger October 31st Dear Youth Leader, Congratulations! You have taken the first step to involving yourself in the solution to a critical and common problem: the challenge of HUNGER. The next step is deciding how you can make a difference in your community by thinking globally though acting locally! Hunger is preventable. Yet, across the world, 852 million people go hungry every day1. This is an unnecessary reality that plagues both developed and developing countries, and we each have the power and the opportunity to find solutions. Read through this kit to find out how you can make an impact in your community! This Halloween for Hunger Resource Kit includes all the information necessary to help you and your team on your way to making a difference in the world. Please take your time going through the included material, as this information will be important as you plan your event. After all, the more you know about the issue of hunger and how to eliminate it, the easier it is to get others involved! When planning your Halloween for Hunger event, if you have any questions or concerns, remember that your support team at Free The Children is only a phone call or e-mail away. Please refer to the ‘Contact Us’ page at the end of the kit for ways to get in touch with us. We ask that once you complete your campaign, you fill out the Evaluation Form included in the toolkit as well as let us know how many items you collected and to which food bank you were able to donate to. Once you have sent in this information, you will qualify for a fabulous prize!

Thank you so much for taking your first step towards fighting hunger. Keep up your efforts and never stop believing in the power you have to change the world!

With much happiness and hope for the future,

The Youth Team youth@freethechildren.com

1 From Bread for the World, http://www.bread.org

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Table of Contents

Free The Children Information…………………………………………..……………3 Section One: Event Information Overview………………………………………………………………………………..4 How-To Guide…………………………………………….……………………………5 Step 1: Educate Yourself and Get Others Involved……...………..………….5 Step 2: Build Your Team………………………………………….…………...6 Step 3: Hold a Meeting………………………………………………………7 Step 4: Get the Word Out: Create a Poster/Flyer…………………………......8 Step 5: Working with the Media…………………………………………….8 Step 6: Map Out Your Town…………………………….…………………...9 Step 7: Establish a Food Drop-off Area……………..………………………9 Step 8: Take Action!.........................................................................................................10 Step 9: Have fun!...............................................................................................................10 Section Two: Resources Youth in Action Profiles……………………………………………………………….11 Calendar..…………………………………………………….………………………..12 Statistics……………………………………………………………….……………….13 One-page Information Sheet…………………………………………………………14 Participant Registration Form………………………………………………………..15 Route Sign-up Form…………………………………………………….…………….16 How to Write a Media Release…………………………………………………….…18 Evaluation Form…………………………………………………….…………………20 Contact Us…………………………………………………..……….………………..21

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FREE THE CHILDREN

“The largest network of children helping children through education” Free The Children is the largest organization of children helping children through education in the world. Through our organization’s unique youth-driven approach, more than one million young people have been involved in our innovative programs in more than 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network. The primary goal of the organization is not only to free children from poverty and exploitation, but also to free young people from the notion that the yare powerless to affect positive change in the world and to improve the lives of their peers. The work of Free The Children has been profiled on Oprah, 60 minutes, CNN and featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribute, among many other television and print media. In addition, Free The Children was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, 2003 and 2004. An Established Record of Achievement: Free The Children has a remarkable record of achievement, initiating grassroots development projects around the world. Over the past 11 years we have: • Built over 500 primary schools, providing education to over 50,000 children every single day • Distributed over 202,500 school and health kits to children in need • Shipped over $11 million US in essential medial supplies to 40 countries • Provided health care centres and projects that have helped 505,000 people • Provided 132,000 people with access to quality sanitation and clean water

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Section One: Event Information Overview

WHAT is Halloween for Hunger? Started by Professor Jonathan White, Halloween for Hunger is an annual campaign whose goal is to help alleviate hunger while raising awareness of global poverty. First adopted by Free The Children in October 2000, the campaign pushes people to think globally but act locally. Left: Students at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School running

Halloween for Hunger climb their mountain of food—over 30,000 pounds.

HOW does it work? On October 31st of every year, youth from across North America participating in Halloween for Hunger collect cans and boxed food items by going door-to-door on behalf of their local food banks. The Halloween for Hunger campaign gathers community efforts and strengthens the capacity of local food banks. Instead of asking for candy, why not get together with friends and family and trick-or-treat for canned goods instead? WHY participate? Poverty exists all around us. It is neither a desired reality nor a necessary component of either society or community; yet still it persists and people go hungry. Poverty and hunger are universal challenges that need to be met head-on by youth, community groups and governments alike. Quick facts: Sadly hunger is a reality for many families, children and individuals in North America. • 841,640 Canadians use food banks every month – the population of Nova Scotia: 936,000. (Source: Daily Bread Food bank; www.dailybread.org) • 39.7% of Canadian food bank users are children. (Source: Ibid.) • 23.3 million US citizens received emergency hunger relief in 2001; equal to the combined populations of the ten largest US cities. (Source: Second Harvest; www.secondharvst.org) By participating, you and your team can make a real difference in the lives of those living with hunger in your community. Halloween for Hunger will help to gather community efforts to strengthen the capacity of local food banks. WHO can participate? Anyone can get involved in this important and fun-filled event! Youth, school groups and community organizations are already involved – join them in the fight against hunger!

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How-To Guide Step 1: Educate Yourself and Get Others Involved In order to be responsible global citizens, we must first educate ourselves. Before you start to plan your Halloween for Hunger campaign, you will want to take some time to learn about world hunger and poverty by reading through this Resource Kit and by doing your own research. The more educated you are, the more you can educate your peers about these important issues and get them involved. Below are some helpful websites, to supplement your own library and web research. In order to ensure accuracy, make sure that you cross-reference all of your information! Always cite your sources in case people want to check your information and statistics.

• Bread for the World: www.bread.org • Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger: www.feedingminds.org • Canadian Food Banks Association: www.cafb-acba.ca • Food First: www.foodfirst.org • Global Issues: www.globalissues.org • The Hunger Site: www.thehungersite.com • The Stop Community Food Centre: www.thestop.org • The Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank: www.dailybread.ca • United Nations World Food Program: www.wfp.org • World Hunger Education Service: www.worldhunger.org

Minga Team: You will find that there are many people who want to help but who are super-busy. These people are still very valuable members of your team as they all have talents, ideas and energy so make sure that you give them a role to play. The more people you have working with you the better. You can never have too many volunteers when it comes to collecting food on Halloween night! Remember: A great source of local information is your local food bank. Locate a nearby food bank by looking in the phonebook, online or by asking a parent or adult. Contact them to let them know about Halloween for Hunger and ask them if they have any information on hunger in your area.

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Step 2: Build Your Team Core Team: Organize a group of willing volunteers – such as your friends, family and classmates – who will help you plan and carry out your event. These should be committed individuals who are ready to work in coordinating and planning the campaign. In order to make any fundraising campaign successful and fun, you’ll need many different types of people. We all have different talents to contribute, and each person will play different but equal roles. Remember, a successful team respects the rights and opinions of all its members. Suggested Positions for Core Team Members:

Position: General Coordinator Responsibilities: • Hosting meetings and providing encouragement • Overseeing the formation of committees • Checking in with the committees and coordinating their efforts for maximum efficiency • Ensuring the smooth functioning of the planning of the event, making sure everyone’s responsibilities are being fulfilled, and providing any necessary support and advice • Contacting your local food bank well before Halloween and ensuring the delivery of the food • Communicating with Free The Children office: registering your campaign, checking-in periodically, filling out the evaluation form after the event, and sending in pictures taken by the Publicity Coordinator/Committee.

Position: Publicity Coordinator Responsibilities: • Creating posters and flyers • Creating press releases and announcements • Contacting the local media • Communicating with members of the local community to raise awareness about Halloween for Hunger • Taking pictures of the event, everything from meetings to Halloween night. Please send copies to the Free The Children office and keep them for your own publicity materials this year and next year.

Position: Volunteer Coordinator Responsibilities: • Recruiting volunteers • Distributing Participant Registration Forms [see page 15] and ensuring they are turned in and kept in a safe place • Making sure all volunteers are part of a team to collect food on October 31

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• Ensuring safety! o Make sure all groups have at least 2-3 members o Make sure all groups return safely • Ensure volunteers have all necessary items o Provide a list of necessary items to volunteers o Before Halloween and on Halloween night, check to make sure volunteers have all items!

Position: Route Coordinator Responsibilities: • Planning food collection routes and listing them on the route Sign-Up Form for teams to choose and providing a map to each group showing their route, including meeting points for food drop-offs in the car • Making sure that if more than one group in your area is organizing Halloween for Hunger collection routes are not duplicated between groups. • Making sure that every team has a route and that each team feels confident and comfortable with their plan for Halloween night. • Ensuring that there is at least one volunteer driver to connect at least once or twice with all teams to pick up food throughout the night. Note: Try to be environmentally friendly and use only one driver for all the teams if possible.

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Step 3: Hold a Meeting Once you have a group of people who are interested in Halloween for Hunger, it is time to call a formal meeting! It is the job of the general coordinator to organize the meetings and ensure everything for the event goes smoothly. It is suggested that general meetings are held once each week (30-45 minutes) during the planning process and 2-3 times the week before Halloween, with individual committees meeting once a week in addition to general meetings.

Left: Berkley Highschool students: a united force against local poverty • Always have an agenda (a list of items to be discussed) and goals for your meeting (What do you want out of the meeting?) and make sure that these are distributed before the meetings. • Goals for your first meeting may include:

o Discussing the issue of poverty and hunger (use your research from Step 1!)

o Explaining what Halloween for Hunger is and how everyone can play a part

o Designating positions: each person with a coordinator position will be responsible for making sure that all tasks associated with that position are completed.

o Creating committees: the general coordinator, publicity coordinator, volunteer coordinator and route coordinator can collectively choose to form a committee of a few people interested in working together to reach the goals of each position. Committees may want to meet separately from the larger group to work on their tasks. For example, the publicity committee may want to meet on a Saturday afternoon to photocopy posters and hang them up all over town!

o Setting the date and time of your next meeting and deciding on the tasks that will be completed and who will work on them. Note: Make sure you do this at the end of every meeting!

Step 4: Get the Word Out: Create a Poster/Flyer The best way to educate your community about issues of hunger and get them involved in your Halloween for Hunger campaign is to make sure they know it is going on. The easiest and catchiest way to do this is by creating and exciting poster/flyer!

• Put up eye-catching posters all over town (using recycled paper), at your school, on community bulletin boards, in grocery stores, etc. Start making the posters as soon as possible since it is best to start advertising 2-3 weeks before Halloween.

• Drop off eye-catching flyers at every house your group will visit on October 31st. This is very important so that people will be sure to be home and ready with lots of food. It’s best to distribute flyers to houses about one week before Halloween.

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• When making your poster/flyer, don’t forget to include the following information:

The name of the campaign (Halloween for Hunger) What the campaign is for When and where food will be picked up Some hunger/poverty statistics Who the campaign is organized by (the name of your group or school) Where the food is going (the name of your local food bank) How people can contact you for more information (use the organizer’s e-mail address

or set up a group e-mail using Hotmail or Yahoo!) A thank you at the bottom of the posters to all companies that donated photocopies

and other materials.

• Try to get the photocopying of the flyers/posters donated if possible. Look for photocopying companies in your area well in advance (we suggest at least 3-4 weeks) and ask them if they will donate photocopies to your cause. Get this done fairly early, as some companies require a written request ahead of time. Make sure to send them a thank you note afterwards! • Bring copies of your flyer on Halloween night to give to people who might not have seen the flyers you delivered one week earlier.

Above: University of Western Ontario’s Halloween for Hunger flyer

Step 5: Working With the Media Advertising and promotion is an essential part of your event. Organizing a successful media campaign will lead to: • Enthusiastic volunteers for this year and next year’s event • More food donations • Greater public awareness of hunger and poverty A few weeks before Halloween, contact your local media – a town newspaper, a local TV station, etc. – to see if they will cover your amazing actions. Bu sure to be prepared with a media release to send to newspapers, magazines and television stations.

A few days before Halloween, get in touch with your media contacts that you contacts a couple weeks before. This is to remind them that your event is coming up, so they

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will be more likely to cover your story! You may need to provide them with another copy of your media release. Media Release A media release is a short, concise summary of your event describing the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when” and “why” of your actions. The more exciting your media release, the more likely the media are to cover your actions. A few days before Halloween, get in touch with the same media contacts to remind them that your event is happening. You should

always be prepared with a copy of your media release. For more information on how to write a media release, visit: http://www.freethechildren.com/youthzone/makeithappen/images/Howtowriteapressrelease.pdf Step 6: Map out Your Town

Establish street routes for each team of volunteers to follow.

Record these routes on the Route Sign-up Form and make sure each team is matched with a route.

Ensure that your pool of volunteers is divided into teams with at least three people per group.

Make sure that each team fills out the Route sign-up Form, writing down the names of

the members of their group as well as the parent/friend driver that will be meeting up with them.

Make sure that each group has a parent or friend who can drive around the area to pick up food, because canned food can very quickly get heavy. Volunteers can drop off the food in the vehicle and all food can be then transported to the storage spot. Find a map of your town or city and highlight the routes which will be covered in order to prevent overlapping your routes. Distribute a copy of the map to each group with their route highlighted. Have your routes planned two weeks before Halloween so you know which houses to deliver flyers to. Remember: Make sure that everyone in your group as the permission and support of their parent(s) or guardian(s) to go out trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Step 7: Establish a Food Drop-off Area Establish a major drop-off area to where all the collected food can be transported to the food bank in the days after Halloween. Here are some suggestions on where to store and count food before it is sent to the food bank of your choice:

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• A volunteer’s garage or basement • A room in a nearby community centre or school* • An empty room in your school or your classroom *If you want to use a community centre or school classroom, make sure to get the necessary approval and organize in advance with the necessary individuals. Step 8: Take Action! • A few days before Halloween, hold a final coordination meeting to make sure that everyone knows when to begin, where they will be walking and which parent/friend volunteer will be following each group with a car on Halloween night. • Remind all volunteers to what bring/wear:

Halloween for Hunger flyers to give to people who might not have seen the previously delivered flyers

Heavy-duty bags (canvas bags, old pillow cases, etc.) to carry the food

Comfortable walking shoes

A bottle of water

A cell phone (if possible) and the phone number of the general

coordinator in case of any problems

A fun Halloween costume! • Go to your local food bank. Call your local food bank ahead of time and arrange a convenient time for your group to deliver the food and to volunteer some of your time. Step 9: Have Fun! Make Halloween for Hunger is a fun event for all involved! Here are some examples of ways to keep things fun and exciting

• Make your meetings fun by playing team-building games in which everyone can participate; at the beginning, middle and at the end of every meeting • Make posters at the end of meetings with lots of markers, crayons and pencils so that everyone in your group feels involved and has a great time.

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Talk to your parents and teachers and get their permission and support to help you run an amazing Halloween for Hunger campaign

2 Gather a team of interested people, review goals and objectives for the event, plan your first meeting

3 Call your local food bank!

4 5 Hold your first general meeting: Assign roles, designate positions, and form committees—they can plan their ideas over the weekend.

6 Individual committee meetings: Review your goals and objectives. Plan your actions to complete before the next meeting.

7 Contact your local media ask them to run an article about your school or group’s actions

8 Begin your Publicity/promotions Create a poster, or use one created at an earlier meeting. Get photocopies of poster donated.

9 Publicity! Begin to hang posters in strategic locations around town.

10 In school and in the community, use announcements, posters and banners to spread the word

11 Prepare an agenda for the meeting tomorrow

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General Meeting: Committee updates. Review goals and actions to complete before next meeting.

13 Individual committee meetings: Review goals and objectives. Plan actions to complete by next meeting.

14 The Free The Children office is here to help! Give us a call to let us know how things are going! 416.925.5894

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16 If you haven’t already done so, call your local food bank!

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18 Prepare an agenda for the meeting tomorrow

19 3

rd General

Meeting: Prepare rules, suggestions and instructions for teams

20 Finalize routes you are planning to use

21 Only 10 more days until Halloween!

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23 3 24 Deliver flyers to all houses on selected routes and grocery stores close by Wednesday 24 Deliver flyers to all houses on selected routes and grocery stores close by Wednesday

25 Consider 25 Consider visiting your local food bank/soup kitchen visiting your local food bank/soup kitchen

26 4th

General Meeting: 26 4

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General Meeting: meet to finalize teams, assign routes meet to finalize teams, assign routes

27 27 28 Make packages of posters for each group to have on the big day! 28 Make packages of posters for each group to have on the big day!

29 Finalize location for item drop offs 29 Finalize location for item drop offs

30 5th

General Meeting

31 Halloween for Hunger!

GREAT JOB EVERYONE!

Section Two: Resources

Sample Campaign Planning Calendar OOOCCCTTTOOOBBBEEERRR

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Youth in Action Profiles Canada Following National Me to We Day, students at Ancaster High School decided to take a stand against injustice, starting with their local community. To take action on local poverty, students of Ancaster for Halloween took part in Free The Children’s Halloween for Hunger campaign and made a difference in their community by trick or treating for canned goods and donating them to their local food bank. It was under the leadership of a core group of students this drive was able to happen. Ancaster students collected more than 1700 non-perishable food items! This life-changing accomplishment affected everyone involved, from the students that were able to take a stand in their own community, to the children that were able to survive because of the food donated. One student was so excited by their huge success, she said “now Halloween means so much more”. For the students of Anacaster High School, Halloween has been transformed into something very different from collecting candy, it now includes building a community together and living a Me to We lifestyle. Liz Hammond wrote, “The food drive that took place from October 23rd to November 1st was a HUGE success! We challenged home room classes to bring in canned goods and non perishable items and offered a pizza party for the winning class. The winning class, Mr. Sheeler's brought in 598 cans!! We were so impressed! On Wednesday October 31st several members from the student council hopped in 3 cars and we began our mission at 5:45pm and spread out all over Ancaster, dressed in Ancaster Spirit gear, knocked on doors and collected 783 cans by 8:00pm!! We all had a great time, and felt what we did was greatly worth while.” United States Realizing the challenges facing their own community, students from Berkley High School in Berkley, Michigan, took on the Halloween for Hunger challenge and became an inspiration to all of us. On October 31, 2006, over a dozen students took to the streets, armed with Halloween for Hunger posters and costumes, eager to collect food for their local food bank. In a community where 8 out of every 100 people live below the poverty line, students went door to door to engage their neighbours in confronting this issue head-on. Instead of asking for tasty Halloween candy, they asked for boxed and canned foods that they could donate to their local food bank.

Not only did the efforts of Berkley High School result in a garage full of canned goods and other non-perishable food items, but it also served as an example of small actions making a difference. That winter, food bank recipients in Berkley had an additional 2,000 pounds of food to help support families in need thanks to the efforts of these students. The local newspaper was so impressed by their actions that they highlighted the group’s success in the days following Halloween.

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Statistics International: • Every day, more than 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes worldwide—one child every five seconds. (Source: Ibid) USA: • 11.7% of the American population lived at or below the national poverty line – 32.9 million people (2001). (Source: Second Harvest; www.secondharvest.org) • 33.6 million Americans were food insecure, hungry or at risk of hunger (2001). (Source: Ibid) • 9 million Americans were suffering from hunger in 2001. (Source: Ibid) • 23.3 million Americans sought and received emergency hunger relief in 2001. (Source: Ibid) o This number is equivalent to the combined populations of the 10 largest US cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit! (Source: Ibid) • 13+ million American children resided in food insecure households, meaning they were hungry o rat risk of hunger in 2001, equal to roughly 17.6% of the total number of American children. (Source: Ibid) • 852 million people across the world are hungry. (Source: Second Harvest; www.secondharvest.org) • In the developing world, more than 1.2 billion people currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day. (Source: Ibid) • 153 million developing-world children under the age of five are underweight. (Source: Ibid) Canada: • 98% of people relying upon food banks in Toronto have homes ((Source: Daily Bread Food Bank; www.dailybread.org) • 32% of food bank users in Toronto have a post-secondary education or trade certification. (Source: Ibid) • 39.75% of food bank users are children. (Source: Ibid) • More than 1 million Canadian children are living in poverty. (Source: Canadian Food Banks Association; www.cafb-aca.ca) • 841,640 Canadians use food banks every month – population of Nova Scotia: 936,000 (Source: Ibid)

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• 47.8% of food banks have difficulty meeting demand. (Source: Ibid) • Food bank use is at a record high, with 753, 458 Canadians relying on food banks in a one month period. This growing group of food bank users includes children, seniors, persons with disabilities, lone mothers and working poor. The reality is, that although food bank use has increased over 99% since 1989, 34.5% of food banks are having difficulty meeting the growing demand. (Source: Hunger and Food Security in Canada, Meal Exchange) • 841,640 Canadians use food banks every month – population of Nova Scotia: 936,000 (Source: Ibid)

Left: Students at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School climbing their mountain of collected food. Over 30,000 pounds!

12 Myths About Hunger2

Updated by Holly Poole-Kavana based on the book World Hunger: Twelve Myths

Why so much hunger? What can we do about it? To answer these questions we must unlearn much of what we have been taught. Only by freeing ourselves from the grip of widely held myths can we grasp the roots of hunger and see what we can do to end it.

Myth 1: Not Enough Food to Go Around

Reality: Abundance, not scarcity, best describes the world's food supply. Enough wheat, rice and other grains are produced to provide every human being with 3,200 calories a day. That doesn't even count many other commonly eaten foods - vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, grass-fed meats, and fish. Enough food is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food per person a day worldwide: two and half pounds of grain, beans and nuts, about a pound of fruits and vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk and eggs - enough to make most people fat! The problem is that many people are too poor to buy readily available food. Even most "hungry countries" have enough food for all their people right now. Many are net exporters of food and other agricultural products.

2 Taken from: http://www.foodfirst.org/12myths

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Myth 2: Nature is to Blame for Famine

Reality: It's too easy to blame nature. Human-made forces are making people increasingly vulnerable to nature's vagaries. Food is always available for those who can afford it - starvation during hard times hits only the poorest. Millions live on the brink of disaster in South Asia, Africa and elsewhere, because they are deprived of land by a powerful few, trapped in the unremitting grip of debt, or miserably paid. Natural events rarely explain deaths; they are simply the final push over the brink. Human institutions and policies determine who eats and who starves during hard times. Likewise, in America many homeless die from the cold every winter, yet ultimate responsibility doesn't lie with the weather. The real culprits are an economy that fails to offer everyone opportunities, and a society that places economic efficiency over compassion.

Myth 3 Too Many People

Reality: Birth rates are falling rapidly worldwide as remaining regions of the Third World begin the demographic transition - when birth rates drop in response to an earlier decline in death rates. Although rapid population growth remains a serious concern in many countries, nowhere does population density explain hunger. For every Bangladesh, a densely populated and hungry country, we find a Nigeria, Brazil or Bolivia, where abundant food resources coexist with hunger. Or we find a country like the Netherlands, where very little land per person has not prevented it from eliminating hunger and becoming a net exporter of food. Rapid population growth is not the root cause of hunger. Like hunger itself, it results from underlying inequities that deprive people, especially poor women, of economic opportunity and security. Rapid population growth and hunger are endemic to societies where land ownership, jobs, education, health care, and old age security are beyond the reach of most people. Those Third World societies with dramatically successful early and rapid reductions of population growth rates - China, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Cuba and the Indian state of Kerala - -prove that the lives of the poor, especially poor women, must improve before they can choose to have fewer children.

Myth 4: The Environment vs. More Food?

Reality: We should be alarmed that an environmental crisis is undercutting our food-production resources, but a trade-off between our environment and the world's need for food is not inevitable. Efforts to feed the hungry are not causing the environmental crisis. Large corporations are mainly responsible for deforestation - creating and profiting from developed-country consumer demand for tropical hardwoods and exotic or out-of-season food items. Most pesticides used in the Third World are applied to export crops, playing little role in feeding the hungry, while in the U.S. they are used to give a blemish-free cosmetic appearance to produce, with no improvement in nutritional value.

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Alternatives exist now and many more are possible. The success of organic farmers in the U.S. gives a glimpse of the possibilities. Cuba's success in overcoming a food crisis through self-reliance and sustainable, virtually pesticide-free agriculture is another good example. Indeed, environmentally sound agricultural alternatives can be more productive than environmentally destructive ones.

Myth 5: The Green Revolution is the Answer

Reality: The production advances of the Green Revolution are no myth. Thanks to the new seeds, millions of tons more grain a year are being harvested. But focusing narrowly on increasing production cannot alleviate hunger because it fails to alter the tightly concentrated distribution of economic power that determines who can buy the additional food. That's why in several of the biggest Green Revolution successes - India, Mexico, and the Philippines - grain production and in some cases, exports, have climbed, while hunger has persisted and the long-term productive capacity of the soil is degraded. Now we must fight the prospect of a ‘New Green Revolution' based on biotechnology, which threatens to further accentuate inequality.

Myth 6: We Need Large Farms

Reality: Large landowners who control most of the best land often leave much of it idle. Unjust farming systems leave farmland in the hands of the most inefficient producers. By contrast, small farmers typically achieve at least four to five times greater output per acre, in part because they work their land more intensively and use integrated, and often more sustainable, production systems. Without secure tenure, the many millions of tenant farmers in the Third World have little incentive to invest in land improvements, to rotate crops, or to leave land fallow for the sake of long-term soil fertility. Future food production is undermined. On the other hand, redistribution of land can favor production. Historically comprehensive land reforms have markedly increased production in countries as diverse as Japan, Zimbabwe, and Taiwan. A World Bank study of northeast Brazil estimates that redistributing farmland into smaller holdings would raise output an astonishing 80 percent.

Myth 7: The Free Market Can End Hunger

Reality: Unfortunately, such a "market-is-good, government-is-bad" formula can never help address the causes of hunger. Such a dogmatic stance misleads us that a society can opt for one or the other, when in fact every economy on earth combines the market and government in allocating resources and distributing goods. The market's marvelous efficiencies can only work to eliminate hunger, however, when purchasing power is widely dispersed.

So all those who believe in the usefulness of the market and the necessity of ending hunger must concentrate on promoting not the market, but the consumers! In this task, government

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has a vital role to play in countering the tendency toward economic concentration, through genuine tax, credit, and land reforms to disperse buying power toward the poor. Recent trends toward privatization and de-regulation are most definitely not the answer.

Myth 8: Free Trade is the Answer

Reality: The trade promotion formula has proven an abject failure at alleviating hunger. In most Third World countries exports have boomed while hunger has continued unabated or actually worsened. While soybean exports boomed in Brazil - to feed Japanese and European livestock - hunger spread from one-third to two-thirds of the population. Where the majority of people have been made too poor to buy the food grown on their own country's soil, those who control productive resources will, not surprisingly, orient their production to more lucrative markets abroad. Export crop production squeezes out basic food production. So-called free trade treaties like NAFTA and WTO pit working people in different countries against each other in a ‘race to the bottom,' where the basis of competition is who will work for less, without adequate health coverage or minimum environmental standards. Mexico and the U.S. are a case in point: since NAFTA we have had a net loss of over a million jobs here in the U.S., while Mexico has lost 1.3 million in the agricultural sector alone and hunger is on the rise in both countries.

Myth 9: Too Hungry to Fight for Their Rights

Reality: Bombarded with images of poor people as weak and hungry, we lose sight of the obvious: for those with few resources, mere survival requires tremendous effort. If the poor were truly passive, few of them could even survive. Around the world, from the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico to the Landless People's Movement in South Africa, wherever people are suffering needlessly movements for change are underway. People will feed themselves, if allowed to do so. It's not our job to ‘set things right' for others. Our responsibility is to remove the obstacles in their paths, obstacles often created by large corporations and U.S. government, World Bank and IMF policies.

Myth 10: More U.S. Aid Will Help the Hungry

Reality: Most U.S. aid works directly against the hungry. Foreign aid can only reinforce, not change, the status quo. Where governments answer only to elites, our aid not only fails to reach hungry people, it shores up the very forces working against them. Our aid is used to impose free trade and free market policies, to promote exports at the expense of food production, and to provide the arms that repressive governments use to stay in power. Even emergency, or humanitarian aid, which makes up only eight percent of the total, often ends up enriching American grain companies while failing to reach the hungry, and it can dangerously undercut local food production in the recipient country. It would be better to use

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our foreign aid budget for unconditional debt relief, as it is the foreign debt burden that forces most Third World countries to cut back on basic health, education and anti-poverty programs.

Myth 11: We Benefit From Their Poverty

Reality: The biggest threat to the well-being of the vast majority of Americans is not the advancement but the continued deprivation of the hungry. Low wages - both abroad and in inner cities at home - may mean cheaper bananas, shirts, computers and fast food for most Americans, but in other ways we pay heavily for hunger and poverty. Enforced poverty in the Third World jeopardizes U.S. jobs, wages and working conditions as corporations seek cheaper labor abroad. In a global economy, what American workers have achieved in employment, wage levels, and working conditions can be protected only when working people in every country are freed from economic desperation.

Here at home, policies like welfare reform throw more people into the job market than can be absorbed - at below minimum wage levels in the case of ‘workfare' - which puts downward pressure on the wages of those on higher rungs of the employment ladder. The growing numbers of ‘working poor' are those who have part- or full-time low wage jobs yet cannot afford adequate nutrition or housing for their families. Educating ourselves about the common interests most Americans share with the poor in the Third World and at home allows us to be compassionate without sliding into pity. In working to clear the way for the poor to free themselves from economic oppression, we free ourselves as well.

Myth 12: Curtail Freedom to End Hunger?

Reality: There is no theoretical or practical reason why freedom, taken to mean civil liberties, should be incompatible with ending hunger. Surveying the globe, we see no correlation between hunger and civil liberties. However, one narrow definition of freedom - the right to unlimited accumulation of wealth-producing property and the right to use that property however one sees fit - is in fundamental conflict with ending hunger. By contrast, a definition of freedom more consistent with our nation's dominant founding vision holds that economic security for all is the guarantor of our liberty. Such an understanding of freedom is essential to ending hunger.

References: for a full list of references see Lappe, Frances Moore, Joseph Collins, and Peter Rosset. 1998. World Hunger: Twelve Myths. New York: Grove Press.

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Participant Registration Form When: Halloween—October 31st First name:______________________________ Last name:_____________________________ Home phone:__________________________________ E-mail:_________________________ School:________________________________________ Grade:________________________ Team Name:____________________________________ Parent/Guardian Signature:_____________________________________________________ Team Members: Name: (1) ____________________ (2) ____________________ (3) ____________________ Email: ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Name: (4) ____________________ (5) ____________________ (6) ____________________ Email: ____________________ ____________________ ______________________ If you would like more information or have any questions, please contact <<insert your group contact info>>

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Route Sign-up Form Thank you for participating in Halloween for Hunger! Once you have your team together, please coordinate to meet with a driver to lighten your load on Halloween night and then sign-up for a route from the list below. Thank you for taking action! ROUTES AVAILABLE: Name Route # Street From House # To House #

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Team Name Member Names Route #

Assigned Driver

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

SIGN UP HERE

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Media Release General Format When writing your media release, remember the saying, “less is more.” Your media release should be short, catchy and to the point, using active and interesting language, making your event or announcement as exciting and unique as possible. Here are some guidelines to follow when preparing a media release: FORMAT: Print media releases on your school/organization letterhead to provide an attractive visual and an immediate identity in the eyes of the reporter. Release date: The release date tells the editor or journalist the general time frame you want the information released. It should be typed in capital letters and placed at the left margin above the release title. Most media releases simply say, IMMEDIATE RELEASE however if you need to promote something that is extremely time-sensitive, include specific details such as “RELEASE APRIL 8, AFTER 6AM”. Title: The second line of your announcement is the title, “MEDIA RELEASE’ which should be spelled out in all capital letters and centred in bold. Headline: Open with a strong caption that grab’s your reader’s attention! In ten words or less, your headline should summarize the information in the media release in a way that is exciting and dynamic. The headline should be placed underneath your title and should also be centred and bolded. Contact information: The main contact name, title, day and evening phone number and e-mail should be clearly written on the right hand margin. You can also include your web address (if applicable), location address and telephone number at the bottom of the page as a footer (if it is not included in the letterhead design) should they desire to contact you further information about your school/organization. CONTENT: Structure of Content: The media release should be written in a style called the inverted pyramid with the most important information first and the more minor details last. Date and Location: The body of the media release begins with the date and city of the event or announcement, for instance Toronto, June 21, 2008. Opening paragraph: The first paragraph is critical! It should state in brief detail what the media release is all about and answer the who, what, when, where, why and how questions about your event. The hook: Also included in your opening paragraph is the hook – the one thing that will get your audience interested in reading more (example, details confirming the appearance of a local celebrity).

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The body: The second paragraph of your media release should include more details about the ‘who, what, when, where, why and how’ because if they are reading this paragraph, then something has already caught their eye. The paragraph can also include the goal of your event (i.e. how much money you hope to collect). Quotation: Also included in the second paragraph is a quotation. Using a quotation is a great technique to continue building your story and letting readers know why your event or announcement is important. It also incorporates a personal touch and/or adds an authoritative voice to the release depending on how it is used. One example is to quote someone like the principal, a teacher or an individual who is very involved in some way with your campaign. Often journalists use quotations in their published articles that they have pulled from a press release written about the event or announcement. Closing paragraph: The third and final paragraph is a summation of the release and further information on your group or organization. For example, you might want to conclude your release with a line that says something like: 'If you would like more information about this event or would like to schedule and interview with Jane Doe, please call John Smith at 444-333-7777 or e-mail John Smith at jsmith@myorganization.com.' GENERAL: Font and spacing: Use a clear and basic font such as Times New Roman or Arial. Spacing: As many editors and journalists like to make notes directly on the media release, double space the body of your media release. Length: Try to keep your media release to a maximum of one page. If it exceeds this length, the second page should indicate ‘Page Two’ in the upper right hand corner. The end: Journalistic standards use the basic structure, ### or -30- to define the end of a media release. The three # symbols or the number -30- are centered directly underneath the third or final paragraph. The Boilerplate: Many media releases include a short paragraph at the end of the release called the “boilerplate”, an old newspaper expressions signifying a block of standard text that is used over and over again. This might include a synopsis of the activities and mission of your group or if your event is about an individual, then your boilerplate might include a short biography. GENERAL ADVICE Stick to the facts! Make your media release interesting but avoid embellishments. Make it relevant! Consider what’s going on with social issues and current events and sculpt your media release accordingly. This will make your story even more attractive and worthwhile to potential readers.

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Media Release Checklist • Contact person’s name, day and night phone numbers and e-mail, organization’s address, phone number and web address • MEDIA RELEASE in all caps • Immediate release or release Date (all caps) • TITLE and HEADLINE in BOLD/CAPS • BODY-date/city-who, what, when, where and why. • Catchy title and text • Sum it up... • Basic font, double spaced, page numbers, and ### or -30- to conclude the release Sending the media release: 1. Copy and paste your entire media release into the message area of an e-mail. Journalists and editors will not open press releases through e-mail attachments! 2. Send out your media release 24 hours prior to your event and ensure that the main contact listed for the event is available to speak with the media from the moment the media release is distributed until the event itself is over. 3. Many newspapers still accept fax and mail media releases. If you choose to mail your release, consider folding the letter with the copy side out so the editor sees who the letter is from and what it is about when he opens the letter.

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Sample Media Release Try using this sample media release as a template, adding your own personal creativity and your group’s information. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <<October 7, 2008>>

<<Local Youth Battle Hunger on Halloween>>

<<Ben Hapsburg 67 Pleasant Street Toronto,

ON M5A 2Y3 Tel: 416.555.2451 Fax: 416.555.7325

sleepyhollowYIA@gmail.com>> On October 31st, the youth of <<Sleepy Hollow>> will take to the streets to participate in Halloween for Hunger, a local initiative supporting food banks through the collection of non-perishable food items. This initiative was adopted in 2000 by Free The Children, the largest network of children helping children through education. The event is being organized by the students of <<Sleepy Hollow Public School>> who are part of the <<Sleepy Hollow Free The Children Youth in Action Group.>> Their goal is to <<collect 5,000 non-perishable food items this Halloween to support the Sleepy Hollow Food Bank and help make sure that every person in Sleepy Hollow has enough food to eat.>> The action will begin at <<5:30 PM>> October 31st, Halloween. Carrying cloth bags and followed by a fleet of volunteer drivers, teams of young activists will trick-or-treat for food items to be donated to <<Sleepy Hollow Food Bank.>> With the support from the local community it is certain that many families and individuals will benefit from this local action to take a stand against hunger. If you would like more information or have any questions about <<Sleepy Hollow Free The Children Youth in Action Group’s Halloween for Hunger event, please contact Ben Hapsburg at 416.555.2451 or sleepyhollowYIA@gmail.com.>> For more information on Free The Children, please visit www.freethechildren.com.

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Evaluation Form An important part of any event is the follow-up and evaluation process. By completing this Evaluation Form and sending it to Free The Children, you will be helping your Youth in Action Group and Free The Children hold better events in future years. In addition, by submitting this form to the Youth Team, you are entering for your chance to win a fabulous prize! It may help you the most to plan for next year to have each individual in your group complete an evaluation form. If you decide to do this, please summarize individuals’ comments and send one form to the Free The Children office, keeping one copy for your records. You may send the form to us by e-mail, fax or mail. Email: youth@freethechildren.com Fax: 1.416.925.5894 Mailing Address: Free The Children Attention: Youth Programming Department 233 Carlton St. Toronto, Ontario M5A 2L2 Event: Halloween for Hunger Name of Group: ______________________________________________________ Location (city/town):___________________________________________________ Describe your initiative: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What was successful? _____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How many items did you collect?__________________________ What would you change for next time? _____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How could Free The Children help you better?:___________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your Contact Information: Name: ___________________________________ Phone: ( ) ________________________ E-mail: ___________________________________

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Contact Us Please contact us anytime with questions, comments, concerns and updates! Free The Children Youth Programming Department 233 Carlton St. Email: youth@freethechildren.com Toronto, Ontario M5A 2L2 Phone: (416) 925-5894 Fax: (416) 925-8242 Free The Children: http://www.freethechildren.com Explore the Free The Children website for information on our awesome campaigns, international projects, news updates and more! The new We Generation section of the website has great information on Youth in Action Groups, Youth Speakers, the Voices International Newsletter, blogs and lots of useful resources. For your Halloween for Hunger campaign especially, check out the We Generation for more great information on meetings, media releases, interviews, donation request letters and more!

Congratulations on participating in an amazing event and

providing food for those in need!