Tag Archives: Charity Miles

February 25, 2013 · 2:55 pm

College Class to Help Feed the Hungry

It was Helen Keller who said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” I recently used that great quote while speaking to a class at the College of Mount St. Joseph (MSJ).

The students there are going to help fight global hunger by playing FreeRice and walking Charity Miles as part of their Cincinnati Authors course. Ashley Eilers of the MSJ school paper reports on this service learning set up by Professor Jeff Hillard.

With FreeRice the students will be raising donations for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the largest agency fighting hunger. The FreeRice donations will feed children in Niger, a country that suffered a severe drought and near famine last year. With Charity Miles, the free cell phone app that generates donations when you exercise, the students will help both WFP and Feeding America.

The Mount’s Leadership Pathways program had a FreeRice event earlier this year. It was a student in last year’s Cincinnati Authors class, Elizabeth Paff, whose enthusiasm put this plan in motion.

Paff did not have a cell phone with internet connectivity so she was unable to download and use the Charity Miles app. That did not stop her, though. She did her own form of Charity Miles, running and fundraising for Plumpy’nut to feed malnourished children. Since October we have raised donations for over 1,300 meals for Feeding America, the World Food Programme, and Edesia through our combined Charity Miles program.

Last week I ran to the Anderson Ferry Food Pantry in Delhi, Ohio. It’s part of the Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank’s network of agencies fighting hunger in the area. The Pantry is short on donations while they have seen an increase in demand, a familiar scene across the country, with over 50 million Americans food-insecure.

A walk or run to your local food pantry, using Charity Miles, might be a good way to raise money and find out what is happening with hunger in your community. If there is a food shop nearby you might be able to finish your run there and purchase some supplies for the pantry as well.

Sherrie Kleinholz, a great advocate for the homeless, and I teamed up for a food drive last summer that benefited the Anderson Ferry Pantry as well as Our Daily Bread, and the Care Barrel at Our Lady of Victory Church. The food drive was in honor of my mother who passed away from cancer. One of the donors was scheduled shortly for surgery but still took the time to gather food and leave it out for pickup. Kleinholz also spoke to the Cincinnati Authors class prior to my presentation.

Feeding America is encouraging everyone to get involved in the Together We Can Solve Hunger campaign. The best ideas to help fight hunger are the ones you adapt or create on your own. So get involved as soon as you can.

Article first published as College Class to Help Feed the Hungry on Blogcritics.

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February 22, 2013 · 2:20 am

Together We Can End Hunger

John Young, former president of the Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank, has spent a lifetime helping others. It was very early in his humanitarian career that he discovered how you can end hunger and poverty.

As a teenager he volunteered at a hospital one day to feed elderly patients, some very close to death. It was a difficult task and made him a little unsure about going back again. But when he did return for a second day, he saw the joy from the patients because someone cared enough to come back to help them.

Young learned that that is how you make a difference, you get involved and stay connected. If enough people do that hunger and poverty can be eliminated.

The answer to the societal problem of hunger can be found right here in your own backyard. The Freestore Foodbank, for instance, has provided a safety net, and a way out, for people in Cincinnati suffering from hunger. Those solutions are found in the strength of volunteers coming forward like Young did and then going on to become leaders.

There is enough food for everyone in the world, and we can do a much better job preventing food waste. So ending hunger is not something where a miracle cure has to be discovered. It’s a case of stepping up the effort and getting more people involved.

Using the award-winning online game FreeRice, College of Mount St. Joseph (MSJ) students are answering questions in a variety of subjects like vocabulary and science. Every correct answer means 10 grains of rice donated to the UN World Food Programme. The rice is being sent to the school feeding program in Niger, a country that suffered from severe drought and is hosting refugees from the war in Mali. For many children in these impoverished, developing countries, the school meal might be the only one they receive the whole day.

Last fall I did a story on Ithaca College and how they make use of FreeRice as part of their hunger relief program called Food for Thought.

There are many ways now that people, schools, and organizations can get involved to end hunger. There is even a free app people can download onto their smartphones called Charity Miles. When your walk, run, or bike the app keeps track of your distance and for every mile a donation is made to Feeding America or the World Food Programme. You select the charity and the results get posted to your Facebook page. There are lot of athletes and teams so the potential for Charity Miles is amazing.

Charity Miles is partnering with Feeding America for the Together We Can Solve Hunger Campaign. “The campaign provides people with simple, easy ways to engage in the fight against hunger,” said Shannon Traeger, spokesperson for Feeding America. “With more than 50 million Americans living at risk of hunger, including more than one in five children, we’re encouraging everyone to do their part.”

Find a way to get involved and fight hunger. Educate others and get them involved too. This dedication can make a difference in ending hunger here at home and across the globe. The solution to this menace to mankind is right here in front of us.

Article first published as Together We Can End Hunger on Blogcritics.

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January 30, 2013 · 2:39 am

Running to Feed Syrian Refugees

tweet2568FlagPost a commentWilliam LambersWilliam Lambers, Yahoo! Contributor NetworkJan 29, 2013 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."Using Charity Miles you can raise money for the World Food Programme just by running, walking or biking. Your results are posted to your Facebook page.

Using Charity Miles you can raise money for the World Food Programme just by running, walking or biking. Your results are posted to your Facebook page.

On Thursday, I went for a run in 20-degree temperatures to raise money for the UN World Food Programmme (WFP). The WFP is the largest food aid organization in the world and currently feeding Syrian refugees, among many other relief missions in conflict and disaster zones.

Think of the Syrian refugees who are suffering from hunger and cold as we speak. Having fled their war-torn homeland they are seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Aid agencies, who are lacking funding, are struggling to feed, clothe and shelter them. Some of them arrived at refugee camps only to be uprooted again by fierce winter storms.

Using the Charity Miles app I ran 5.9 miles for the fundraiser. This means a donation of 14 meals by Charity Miles to WFP. So far WFP has received donations of more than 21,846 school meals from just this one app. These donations are going to the area of greatest need among WFP programs.

The United Nations says a record number of Syrian refugees, 30,000 of them, have arrived at the Za’atri camp in Jordan since the start of the year. This crisis is fast escalating and with no end to the war in sight the humanitarian situation could get much worse. Aid agencies need more support from the international community.

Most of us are far away from this humanitarian disaster in the Middle East. You feel more helpless the further the distance. You can donate to a Syrian relief fund set up by WFP. Or if you use Charity Miles you can exercise and raise funds.

For many of us who work out anyway, why not add on this component? It’s easy to use. You just download the app onto your phone, connect it to your facebook account and start exercising. Whole sports team could use it during their practices and raise money for the World Food Programme.

The NFL teams, for example, could take an hour out of Super Bowl week and run a mile and raise tons of meals that way using Charity Miles. The NFL took part last year in the Famine, War, Drought campaign with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Using Charity Miles would be an easy way to expand that partnership.

Humanitarian needs are massive in the world today with so many conflicts ongoing. There are ways to be involved relatively easily.

Article first published as Running to Feed Syrian Refugees on Blogcritics.

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January 17, 2013 · 6:53 pm

Feeding America and Charity Miles

You can run, walk or bike and raise money for Feeding America using the Charity Miles free application

You can run, walk or bike and raise money for Feeding America using the Charity Miles free application

Do you walk, run, or bike? Do you plan to get started soon, but need a little extra motivation? Do you own a Smartphone?

If you answered yes to these three questions, then you could be exercising and supporting Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity, at the same time. All you have to do is download the free app called Charity Miles. Every mile you run, walk or bike raises money for charities of your choice.

This past fall I began to see tweets from Feeding America and the UN World Food Programme about Charity Miles and combining fitness with philanthropy. My own form of exercise had been walking, and I didn’t own a cell phone, but in late September, I took the plunge. I bought a cell phone and decided to start running.

For me, I choose Feeding America as my charity to support during my runs. The Charity Miles app keeps track of your distance and posts the results to your Facebook page. For every mile you run or walk, 25 cents is donated to Feeding America. Biking raises 10 cents per mile. Every mile helps provide meals to people facing hunger through Feeding America.

Rome was said to be built on seven hills, but here in Western Hills, OH—where I live—it seems like there are 7,000 hills! Saying it is “hilly” here is an understatement. My running paths may be tough, but my mission is always clear—every step I take, and every mile I run, I can help people struggling with food insecurity. To date, people just like me have helped Charity Miles raise more than $19,000 for Feeding America.

Imagine how many meals could be raised if whole track teams starting using the Charity Miles app. Or, if every runner in this April’s Boston Marathon used Charity Miles.

Strength in numbers. This is the whole idea behind Feeding America’s Together We Can Solve Hunger campaign, launching at the beginning of February. Charity Miles is one of several ways you can help end hunger. Check back in with Feeding America at the beginning of February to find out how you can participate in the Together We Can Solve Hunger campaign.

It’s time to report for duty. There is enough food in the world for everyone. Let’s solve hunger—together!

Visit FeedingAmerica.org and CharityMiles.org for more information.

Originally published at Feeding America

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December 16, 2012 · 1:14 am

Runner Gives Holiday Gift of Plumpy’Nut to Starving Children

A mother attends to her severely malnourished child at an inpatient feeding centre in Mao, Chad. Plumpy’Nut is used to treat this potentially deadly condition (UNICEF Chad/2011/ Esteve)

Elizabeth Paff, a College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) student, yesterday finished two weeks of running to raise donations of close to 600 meals of Plumpy’Nut for starving children. Plumpy’Nut is a peanut paste used to feed small children who suffer severe malnutrition and need life-saving intervention.

The donations were sent to Edesia, a non-profit organization that produces Plumpy’Nut and is making the food currently for malnourished children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad.

Heidi Reed, the Communications Manager for Edesia, says, “We are so grateful for Elizabeth Paff for keeping up the fight, the awareness, and the funding to help save the lives of severely malnourished children. Every dollar raised brings us closer to a world where more children are given a chance at life.”

For every minute Paff ran over the last 2 weeks a donation was made equivalent to the cost of 1 package of Plumpy’nut (33 cents). For the last couple of runs the donation size was increased to 1 dollar for each minute run. Paff completed a 47 minute run on Friday adding to the total reported on the Cincinnati Enquirer web site earlier in the day.

Paff is a member of the Leadership Pathways program at the Mount and graduated from Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati. She also has forthcoming publications related to global hunger and has been quoted in the Buffalo News.

Readers are encouraged to send matching donations as a holiday gift to Edesia at www.edesiaglobal.org. Even a donation of one dollar can buy 3 meals of Plumpy’Nut.

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November 29, 2012 · 4:28 am

Interview: Alanna Imbach of the UN World Food Programme on Charity Miles app

Using Charity Miles you can help support school feeding programs run by the World Food Programme
Credits:
WFP/Kongkea Chhoeun

In my last article, I wrote about Charity Miles and how you can use this free app to help raise donations to fight hunger and cancer.

Yesterday, I interviewed Alanna Imbach of the UN World Food Programme (WFP). She tells us more about how by walking, running or biking you can help support WFP, the world’s largest organization fighting hunger.

How did WFP connect with Charity Miles?

WFP is always on the lookout for innovative new ways to tackle global hunger issues, and engage people in efforts to reduce malnutrition and hunger. Charity Miles founder and brainchild, Gene Gurkoff, invited WFP to join up with this exciting new initiative early in 2012. When the game-changing phone application went live in June of this year, WFP was one of an initial nine top charities that walkers, runners and bikers can choose to support.

Give us an example of how funds raised through Charity Miles will help WFP feed the hungry?

It’s incredibly easy—and it’s free! When you use the Charity Miles app, your phone’s GPS is used to measure the distance that you cover during your walk or workout. WFP then receives 25 cents for each mile that you walk or run, or 10 cents for each mile biked. It may not sound like much, but with as little as 25 cents, WFP is able to provide a healthy meal to a child in school.

How easy is it for someone to join?

Using Charity Miles to support WFP in the fight against hunger is as simple as downloading the free application onto your iPhone or Android smartphone, then activating it while you enjoy your jaunt through the fresh outdoors. The app can be downloaded at charitymiles.org, and must be connected to an active Facebook account.

Do you see an increasing trend of support for WFP resulting from Charity Miles?

WFP’s partnership with Charity Miles is not just about raising money. It is also very much about raising awareness about global hunger, and empowering people to change the world by earning meals for hungry and malnourished kids in need, all while having fun. It has been great to see more and more people using Charity Miles as a launching pad to start conversations (and friendly competitions!) with their friends and colleagues about hunger in school and homes around the world.

Article first published as Interview: Alanna Imbach of the UN World Food Programme on Charity Miles Mobile App on Blogcritics.

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November 26, 2012 · 4:57 am

Running Charity Miles to Fight Hunger and Cancer

You can use the free app Charity Miles to help fight hunger. (photo courtesy of Charity Miles)

On Thanksgiving I got the chance to raise money for three charities: Stand up 2 Cancer, Feeding America, and the World Food Programme. All this by simply running and using a free app called Charity Miles.

I bought an Android phone a couple of months ago and downloaded the free Charity Miles app. You select a charity and choose whether you are going to run, walk, or bike. The app keeps track of your miles. Every mile you cover leads to a donation to the charity of your choice. The results of your runs get posted to your Facebook page.

I started out on Thanksgiving day with a three-mile run and took a little break to submit the results so Stand up 2 Cancer could earn the donation. The three miles I ran donated about seven minutes of cancer research.

The next three-mile run was for Feeding America and this donated about eight meals. As a member of the Feeding America Blogger Council I was also busy getting an online petition set up to support America’s foodbanks. So please sign this petition.

After another much-needed break especially considering the very hilly terrain I was running (the place is called Western Hills), my plan was to next run for the World Food Programme (WFP). My phone had a glitch so I lost about a mile’s worth. However, I did run a little over two miles after that, leading to a donation of five meals to WFP.

I also was able to mention Charity Miles to a few people I passed along the way.

Just as I am writing this I have received a message from Charity Miles stating:

“Yesterday was Charity Miles’ biggest day ever! Over 8,900 miles in one day – nearly half of which were for Feeding America, helping to feed over 15,000 people! What a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving!”

I am happy to be nine of those miles yesterday and to raise money for causes I am very involved with. My column here, primarly about world hunger, is nearing its 500th article.

I was glad to see Stand up 2 Cancer recently added to the Charity Mile list. I know how deeply devastating this disease is. My mother passed away from lung and brain cancer this summer.

There are many other charities as well that you can help when you join. I never used a cell phone or Android before starting this, so for experienced people it should be relatively easy to set up.

Article first published as Running Charity Miles to Fight Hunger and Cancer on Blogcritics.

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October 31, 2012 · 10:21 pm

Charity Miles for Halloween!

Here is a video about Charity Miles for Halloween and below are some instructions on how you can use this tool to help feed the hungry. If you get through Halloween!

Here is a video and some instructions on how to use the free app Charity Miles to help raise funds for the World Food Programme, Feeding America and other charities while you walk, run or bike.  (courtesy Ekaterina Oshepkova of the World Food Programme)

How do I use the app Charity Miles?

1. Download the application at charitymiles.org

2. It will ask you to connect via Facebook. Note, without a Facebook account, you will not be able to use the application. Also, your GPS must be on. (most cell phones apparently already have this on)

3. When you are ready to exercise, select the charity in which you will be exercising for. You can do so by sliding the screen until you see WFP, which is the 10th charity.

4. Select, walk, run, or bike. The application will then start & track your distance.

5. When you are finished, or want to take a break, select stop.

6. If you wish to resume, select resume. If you are finished, select finish.

7. When you are finished with your exercise, the application will prompt you to accept sponsorship. Accept Sponsorship. If you do not accept sponsorship and allow a post to your Facebook wall, no money will be donated to the charity.

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October 20, 2012 · 3:47 pm

How to Use Charity Miles to Raise Funds for the World Food Programme and Feeding America

Here is a video and some instructions on how to use the free app Charity Miles to help raise funds for the World Food Programme, Feeding America and other charities while you walk, run or bike.  (courtesy Ekaterina Oshepkova of the World Food Programme)

How do I use the app Charity Miles?

1. Download the application at charitymiles.org

2. It will ask you to connect via Facebook. Note, without a Facebook account, you will not be able to use the application. Also, your GPS must be on. (most cell phones apparently already have this on)

3. When you are ready to exercise, select the charity in which you will be exercising for. You can do so by sliding the screen until you see WFP, which is the 10th charity.

4. Select, walk, run, or bike. The application will then start & track your distance.

5. When you are finished, or want to take a break, select stop.

6. If you wish to resume, select resume. If you are finished, select finish.

7. When you are finished with your exercise, the application will prompt you to accept sponsorship. Accept Sponsorship. If you do not accept sponsorship and allow a post to your Facebook wall, no money will be donated to the charity.

 

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