> >

Get Involved

Sunday School Resources

Make Hunger History
Teaching Children About Hunger
Guides for Grades 4-6 & 7-9

The guides include exercises, discussion questions, scripture passages, prayers, quizes and games. Some examples of the materials can be found below.

The booklet for grades 7-9 is available for purchase from our online store. To order yours, click here.

Unfortunately, the guide for grades 4-6 is out of stock. However, you can download it in .pdf at no cost by clicking here.

You will need Adobe Reader to download and view the .pdf. Click here to download it for free:

get Acrobat Reader

Don't forget to check out Hunger No More educational materials for congregations, which also has a number of children's acitivites.

Quick Facts on Hunger

How many people in the world are hungry?
What causes hunger?
Can we end hunger?
What can we do to help make hunger history?
Website links for more information and ideas

Quick Facts on Hunger

How many people in the world are hungry?
840 million people are undernourished in the world.11 In the United States, the richest country in the world, 34.9 million people—including 13 million children—live in homes that don’t always get enough to eat.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

What causes hunger?

There are many reasons why hunger exists in our world. Here are just a few:

Not enough jobs. When people don't have jobs, they can't make enough money to buy food.
Low pay. A lot of poor people are poor because even though they do work, their job doesn't pay very much. Many people in poor countries earn only $1 or $2 a day.
A few rich people and lots of poor people. Our world is uneven: A few people have a lot more money, food and resources than they need while a lot of other people just don't have enough.
Not enough education. When people don't get to go to school, they don't get good jobs and don't have many opportunities to make enough money to buy food. Sometimes, kids don't get to go to school because their parents can't afford to pay for their classes or because the family might need them to work to earn money instead.
Women are sometimes treated unfairly. Because women are usually the ones who take care of children, they are often responsible for food for the children. But when women are not treated fairly, they don't receive the education they need to get a good job or to provide nutritious food for their children.
Natural disasters. Sometimes disasters like flooding (too much water) or drought (not enough water) make hunger problems worse. Often, these disasters are really bad where people are already poor because the poor people don't have the equipment they need to prepare for bad storms or clean up after them.
Injustice. Sometimes laws make it hard for poor people to get the food that they need because the laws are unfair. Bread for the World helps change laws so that people who need food can get it.

Yes! In fact, we could solve hunger pretty quickly if our government works hard. Many of the problems above could be solved by our government changing laws to make them help more hungry people. Churches and charities are trying hard to help end hunger, but they can't do it all.

There is enough food in the world for everyone. We just need to spread it around more fairly and make sure everyone gets what he or she needs.

What can we do to help make hunger history?

There are many things people of all ages can do to help end hunger!

Learn about hunger, like you're doing now, so you know why hunger exists. Then, when you hear people ask about hunger, you can tell them what you've learned.
Write to people in the government, like your members of Congress, and tell them that you want them to help end hunger. Our government has the power to change laws so that more hungry people get the food they need.
Help at an organization that gives food to hungry people, like a church soup kitchen or a neighborhood food pantry. Many organizations like these depend on volunteers to help keep hungry people fed. Take your Sunday school class and make it a field trip!
Raise money to help end hunger! Hold a bake sale or a car wash and donate the money to your church's hunger program.
Do a CROP walk. Every year, Church World Service organizes hundreds of CROP walks and raises money for hungry people through walk-a-thons. For more information, visit their web site or call 1-800-CWS-CROP.
Pray for a world without hunger. God wants us to pray for people all around us who are hungry and poor, and God wants us to act — to Make Hunger History!