As we rapidly approach the end of the financial year on 30 June, I have a request to make of you on behalf of the children. As you know, God has moved powerfully to allow us to now feed over 100,000 hungry boys and girls each day. These are precious children who have suffered greatly … who today are learning how good a full life feels.
In addition, we’ve been able to respond to the urgent need in Northern Iraq where thousands of families have sought shelter from the atrocities of ISIS.
And, while these are things to truly celebrate, it also brings with it the huge responsibility to ensure we can continue feeding the children – as well as meet the urgent needs of families who have nowhere else to turn.
This is why your help is so essential between now and 30 June.
In short, we are facing a funding requirement of $267,568 by the end of June to help ensure no child in our programs goes unfed and no family is turned away.
I would also ask you to pray with me that the full $267,568 would be received by the 30 June deadline.
As I think of this urgent need, I can’t help but think of the Mattid family in Iraq. Like most families, the kids played together, went to school, read stories with their parents … and they lived peaceful and quiet lives.
That was, until ISIS began their reign of terror. Maha, the mother in the Mattid family, shares what happened next …
I used to live in Iraq with my husband, two daughters and son until we heard that ISIS was going to attack our village. I was afraid my daughters would be forced to become sex slaves to ISIS soldiers, and my husband and son would be murdered.
Facing imminent danger, Maha and her family left everything and made the long journey to Erbil in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. She continues …
Now we are living as refugees in very poor, overcrowded conditions without adequate drinking water. Although I’m living in this terrible situation, my greatest need is for my family to be safe. I desperately hope we can return to our home one day.
Thanks to friends like you, we are able to be there for the Mattid family. And we are able to feed over 100,000 hungry children every day of the year.
But unless we receive the $267,568 needed by 30 June, fully meeting these needs could be in jeopardy … which is why I pray you will respond today with a generous gift.
The world situation continues to put a strain on our resources as the need for food and aid is increasing, particularly in the Middle East. There, almost a million Iraqis have fled their homes to escape the murder, rape and brutality of Islamic State.
And beyond the borders of Iraq, there are so many more hungry children in other devastated areas around the world whom we are supporting through the Every Child Every Day program and our emergency relief efforts.
Your gift this month and next will help provide hope to kids in places like Cambodia, Uganda, Malawi, Burkina Faso and North Korea where we are currently feeding and caring for so many young lives.
So, thank you for giving generously today.
Through the partnership of friends like you, we can meet the $267,568 goal by 30 June … and help the Mattid children, and many more young people like them, experience a full life – spirit, soul and body.
Because a full life feels good,
Pete Sumrall
President, Feed The Hungry