Make 2024 THE Year You Help End Hunger

on January 3, 2024

A new year is here and, for many of us, that also means it is time for New Year’s resolutions. Many popular resolutions are about improving your own life — like starting a new exercise routine, eating a more nutritious diet, creating an improved work-life balance, or lowering your average screen time. These are definitely worthwhile resolutions. We should always do what we can to improve our own lives and be happy. But what about resolving to change the lives of others, too? When you add “help end hunger” to your 2024 New Year’s resolutions, you will do just that! You will help to nourish lives, support education and empower communities around the world. It isn’t too late to resolve to help end hunger in 2024! Here are five things you can do to carry out that resolution this year and make a difference in the lives of people globally:

Host a Rise Against Hunger Experience meal packaging event.

Did you know the nutritious meals we distribute to communities around the world are packaged by volunteers like you? To have a hands-on impact, host a Rise Against Hunger Experience meal packaging event with your business, church, school, civic group, or friends and family! Your group will package meals consisting of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and vitamins into bags. The meals you package will then be distributed to people facing hunger in countries across the globe. Want to host a meal packaging event? Fill out the form here!

Donate to support the work to end hunger.

A one-time or recurring donation is a simple way to have an immediate impact! Your support will help Rise Against Hunger provide food and aid to children and families in need. Donate today to nourish lives and support education and health for people around the world.

Volunteer at an upcoming event in your community.

In addition to hosting a meal packaging event, there are many other opportunities throughout the year to join Rise Against Hunger in the movement to end global hunger. There are a variety of local events hosted throughout the year. Check out our Join an Event page to see how you can volunteer at an upcoming event in your area!And if there isn’t an upcoming community event that’s the right fit for you, we also have opportunities at our locations across the U.S. for volunteers to help with event planning, organizing and stocking supplies, and promoting meal packaging events. Submit a volunteer form here if interested and we’ll be in touch!

Stay informed.

Keeping up-to-date on the work to end hunger is a great way to help end hunger this year! When you stay informed about the latest news regarding global hunger and Rise Against Hunger’s mission, you can learn more ways to make an impact and also share the information with your network.Stay informed by signing up for our monthly newsletter!

Spread the word about this important issue.

Growing the movement to end global hunger requires as many people as possible coming together for this common goal! And you can help build awareness and encourage action to address this critical issue. You can spread the word by using #ItStartsWithAMeal on social media and telling your friends and family how they can get involved. To start spreading the word, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube and Threads. You can then share Rise Against Hunger’s updates to get more people involved in the work to end hunger!Join us by resolving to make 2024 THE year you help end global hunger. Together, we can make a big impact this year.

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.