| Type | 501(c)(3) non-profit |
|---|---|
| Industry | charitable organization |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Headquarters | Manhattan, NY, U.S. |
| Key people | Jill Lester, President and CEO Fitigu Tadesse, Vice President Africa John Coonrod, Vice President Robert W. Fuller, Founder John Denver, Founder Werner Erhard, Founder Joan Holmes, Former President Badiul Alam Majumdar, Vice President Bangladesh Peter Bourne, Chair BOD Charles Deull, Secretary, Director Joaquim Chissano, Director V. Mohini Giri, Director Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, Director Cecilia Loría Saviñón, Director George Mathew, Director Queen Noor of Jordan, Director Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Director Amartya Sen, Director Steven J. Sherwood, Director George Weiss, Director |
| Revenue | 0.27% to $8,727,193 million USD (2004) |
| Operating income | 30.4% to $919,249 USD (2004) |
| Employees | 118 |
| Website | Corporate Homepage |
The Hunger Project (THP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.[1]
The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. It has ongoing programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it implements programs aimed at mobilizing rural grassroots communities to achieve sustainable progress in health, education, nutrition and family income.[2]
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The Hunger Project is a global, non-profit, strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, The Hunger Project seeks to end hunger and poverty by empowering people to lead lives of self-reliance, meet their own basic needs and build better futures for their children. The Hunger Project carries out its mission through three activities: mobilizing village clusters at the grassroots level to build self-reliance, empowering women as key change agents, and forging effective partnerships with local government.
In 2009 The Hunger Project was active in Africa, in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, and Uganda, in Asia, in Bangladesh and India, and in Latin America, in Mexico, Bolivia (partnered with Fundación Acción Cultural Loyola (ACLO)),[3] and Peru (partnered with Chirapaq (Center for Indigenous Peoples' Cultures of Peru)).[4]
In Africa, THP implements what it calls "the Epicenter strategy", organizing clusters of 10 to 15 villages to construct community centers, partner with local government agencies and community based organizations, and establish and manage their own programs for microfinance, improved agriculture, food-processing, income-generation, adult literacy, food-security, and primary health-care (including the prevention of HIV/AIDS).
In India, THP facilitates the mobilization and training of elected women panchayat leaders. In Bangladesh, THP conducts trainings focused on gender issues and leadership for local leaders who then organize local meetings, lead workshops and initiate campaigns against early marriage and dowry, malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, gender discrimination, and inequality, illiteracy and corruption. In Latin America, THP works with communities to overcome economic marginalization, particularly that of the indigenous women.
Dionne Warwick represented the charity on the US TV series The Celebrity Apprentice in Season 11 (which was airde in early 2011) and was fired before any money was made for donation. She left the show with a fiery exit.
Innovations for Poverty Action, a nonprofit evaluation organization,[3] is partnering with THP to evaluate the long-term impact of this epicenter strategy on health, nutrition, income, the role of women, social cohesion and education in Ghana.[4]
The Hunger Project raises funds, via contributions, in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. According to its online report retrieved February 2007, Charity Navigator reports that The Hunger Project's program costs in FY2005 were 80.2% of expenses, and administrative and fundraising costs were 19.8%.[5] Give.org/BBB reports that as of December 2006, the Project's program expenses were 77% of total, and administrative and fundraising costs 23% and meets all of its standards.[1] Charity Navigator gives The Hunger Project four out of four stars[6], and the American Institute of Philanthropy gives it an A- rating.[7]
The Hunger Project met the standards to be listed on the 2004 Combined Federal Campaign National List[8] and the Commonwealth of Virginia 2005 Charity Application.[9]
Kevin Salwen and his 14-year-old daughter Hannah Salwen, authors of The Power of Half, describe in their 2010 book how their family chose to sell its home, so that it could donate half of the proceeds of the sale of the home ($850,000) to The Hunger Project.[10][11] They also discuss the process the family went through to pick The Hunger Project as the recipient of its donation, out of a number of possible charitable recipients, and the reaction of some to their choice to earmark their charitable contribution for overseas rather than for the U.S. where they live.[12][13] The project they earmarked the donation for will lessen the hunger of 30,000 rural villagers in over 30 villages in Ghana, and help the villagers move from poverty to self-reliance.[13][14] The family then bought a new home for itself, which was half the size and value of its original home.[12]
The Hunger Project has been the object of criticism, focused on:
Mother Jones, The Christian Century, the fifth estate, Carol Giambalvo, Rick Ross, and Jim Provenzano have all received complaints from The Hunger Project for publishing articles that The Hunger Project considered to be false and defamatory.
...the Hunger Project has reacted strongly against other reporters who have attempted to cover the group's activities. Pat Lynch, then an NBC News reporter, stated that the Hunger Project carried out a four-month campaign to discredit her while she was preparing what eventually became an NBC Evening News segment in 1980. And when Dan Noyes was asked by a radio station in 1983 to participate in a program with a Hunger Project spokesperson, the organization refused to appear. Instead they requested a tape of the program with Noyes alone for review by the group's lawyer.[17]