By William Lambers

In his 1955 Thanksgiving proclamation, President Dwight Eisenhower said, “May we show our thanks for our own bounty by remembering those less fortunate, and may the spirit of this Thanksgiving season move us to share with them to relieve their need.”

Eisenhower would know. He spent one Thanksgiving Day after World War II testifying before Congress, urging them to increase funding to fight hunger in Europe. Ike convinced Congress to do more to fight post-war hunger, and that helped win the peace.

Each of us can also make Thanksgiving a day of action against hunger.

You can help your local food bank or church feed the hungry. You can donate to charities that fight hunger overseas, where millions are starving to death due to wars and climate change. There is strength in numbers if we all stand up against hunger.

This was the spirit of America that we shared with the world in 1947, when the Friendship Train rolled through the country on Thanksgiving Day, collecting food donations for Europe, which was suffering from food shortages. to act in ways that changed the world profoundly.

Legendary Beltway journalist Drew Pearson’s headline read, “Friendship Train an Awakener to Congress.” Did it ever: Interim food aid legislation and the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe quickly followed.

Today, each of us can encourage Congress to do more to fight hunger. One way is to join Bread for the World, whose advocacy includes a letter campaign to MPs.

Or join Catholic Relief Services, the humanitarian juggernaut that has been providing food since 1943 and still provides assistance in over 100 countries today.

Ronald Reagan called for a “National Fasting Day to Raise Funds for Hunger Relief” just before Thanksgiving in 1985. The President said, “At this time of national Thanksgiving, when we thank God for our many blessings, we are pay particular attention to those. in danger.” This call to action was prompted by a famine in Ethiopia, where millions were suffering, inspiring Reagan to ask Americans to “show concern, express solidarity with the plight of fellow starving and to draw attention to the efforts to raise funds to help the victims of the famine”.

Activism against hunger like this is the true spirit of Thanksgiving, and each of us can make a big difference this Thanksgiving. Maybe we can contribute to Save the Children and UNICEF, which needs help to stop the war zones against child malnutrition in Gaza, Sudan, DR Congo and Yemen.

We cannot remain silent when so many are suffering.

A poignant tradition to honor the starving victims of war is to place an empty plate on the table, representing a “silent guest.” Donations could be placed on the empty plate and sent to charities fighting hunger such as WFP, UNICEF, CARE, Mary’s Meals or Save the Children. The “silent guests” idea sent CARE packages of food to the hungry in Europe after World War II.

All these aid organizations could use our help in places where more resources are spent on weapons of war than on food. More good can be gained if a nation has school lunches and baby food as opposed to bombs. The spirit of Thanksgiving can restore a human part to a suffering world. Let’s all do our part.

William Lambers is an author who collaborated with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writing has been published by the Washington Post, NY Times, History News Network, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

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