Eat So They Can and Win a Trip to Africa

Aug. 4, 2007 - PRLog -- (WELLINGTON, NZ, 2 August 2007 - Colin Salisbury, Global Volunteer Network (GVN) Founder and Chief Executive, announced today that a free trip to Africa will be up for grabs as part of GVN Foundation’s global campaign - Eat So They Can.  Eat So They Can is a fundraising event taking place on October 13 in celebration of the UN’s World Food Day (October 16) and aims to build a global movement of people committed to helping solve the child poverty crisis.

Mr Salisbury says the Eat So They Can fundraiser invites citizens of the world to participate in what will collectively be one huge dinner party, where something as simple as sharing a meal with friends can help stop child poverty.

“I am thrilled to announce there will be a grand prize trip to Africa on offer; it means that one lucky participant will have the chance to fly to Kenya and meet the children their funds will be benefitting - the biggest reward of all.

This year the World Food Day organizers are advocating a simple yet compelling message ‘everybody has the right to food.’  GVN is aiming to sign up 500 hosts around the world and raise $150 000 to support orphanages in Kenya and provide much needed resources to women and children.

The grand prize winner will have the opportunity to be involved in the following projects:
-  Distribution of funds to orphanages and schools in Nairobi
-  Kenyan Children’s Fund
-  Orphanage Sponsorship Program
-  Sustainability Fund for orphanages/schools abroad.

“While there will certainly be times of relaxation and fun, for the most part the grand prize trip will be aimed at giving the children of Kenya a healthier and happier future,” said Mr Salisbury.  

According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2006 statistics, there are 820 million chronically hungry people in developing countries with 206.2 million living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit, world leaders pledged their support to halve extreme poverty by 2015 and developed a timeline of Millennium Development Goals. Here in 2007 at the midway point, seventy-four countries, more than one-third of the world's population, are still way off track in meeting these Goals.

Mr Salisbury is urging everyone to help stop child poverty by joining the Eat So They Can campaign.

“Please take a seat at our global dinner table, visit the website, and sign up today.

“We need all of you to make this happen, and if you ‘eat so they can’ you could be on your way to Kenya, Africa!” said Mr Salisbury.

The Stop Child Poverty and Eat So They Can campaigns are a joint initiative by the Global Volunteer Network (GVN) and the Global Volunteer Network Foundation (GVN-Foundation). GVN connects volunteers with communities in need. The GVN-Foundation is the non-profit arm of GVN and provides financial assistance to communities in need.  

For further information about Eat So They Can visit www.eatsotheycan.org  
For further information about GVN, please follow this link: www.volunteer.org.nz  

GVN Media Contact: Lauren McMahon   |   press@volunteer.org.nz   |   +64 4 569-9080

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About GVN:

Our vision is to connect people with communities in need. We do this by supporting the work of local community organisations in countries through the placement of international volunteers.

GVN currently has volunteer positions available through our partner organisations in Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Honduras, India, Kenya, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, USA, and Vietnam. The network continues to expand with new programs currently being researched and assessed.

Website: www.eatsotheycan.org