Lucas,
2.6 million.
That’s the number of children under the age of five who died last year because of malnutrition. Today, they’re reduced to a statistic -- but they were children full of potential. They laughed. They played. They loved. And they were taken before their time.
2.6 million preventable deaths.
The U.S. Congress plays a critical role in funding global nutrition and health programs for mothers and children. Yet, each year, 159 million children still suffer the consequences of chronic malnutrition, often beginning in the womb of their malnourished mothers. In just one heartbreaking example, anemia - a leading cause of maternal deaths - affects half a billion women worldwide. We simply aren’t doing enough to prevent the loss of innocent life.
Please tell Congress we must do more—and we must do it now.
As a leader on this issue, the U.S. sets an example for the rest of the world. We have the resources and the vision to lead the way toward ending chronic hunger and extreme poverty around the globe, but only if we pressure elected officials to make saving the lives of mothers and children a real priority.
Stand with me and other compassionate Christians today as we let Congress know that the lives of children we’ve lost to malnutrition and those who continue to suffer matter. They are not simply a statistic. They were, and are, human beings who deserve to laugh, play, love—and live—like the rest of us.
Urge your representative to increase funding for global nutrition today.
Sincerely,
Eric Mitchell
Director of Government Relations, Bread for the World