NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In cooperation with other faith-based non-profits Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry, Christian Connections for International Health, and Bread for the World, the Eleanor Crook Foundation has awarded a grant to Hope Through Healing Hands to help increase awareness among U.S. faith-based audiences about how they can help combat hunger and malnutrition in the developing world.
Hope Through Healing Hands (HTHH) was founded by former Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist in 2004 to promote improved quality of life for citizens and communities around the world using health as a currency for peace. Now, working with these other international relief and development organizations, HTHH will educate groups around the country about the critical importance of nutrition in a child’s first 1,000 days (including gestation) to set the course for a healthy and productive life.
“We believe that this is key in bringing sustainable change to developing nations,” says HTHH executive director Jenny Dyer. “We know that setting a child on course for healthy physical growth and cognitive development leads to enhanced opportunities in education and, later, the job market – both factors in improving the economies for entire communities and regions.”
Though malnutrition affects 1 in 3 people around the world today, current funding levels for nutrition don’t reflect this emergency. The U.S. governmental funding for foreign assistance is less than 1 percent of the budget; and funding for nutrition represents a fraction of that funding. The organizations working together under this grant will be endeavoring to educate faith leaders about the importance of nutrition for mothers and children, encouraging them to advocate for these issues to protect and increase funding. They will meet with evangelical and conservative leaders throughout the U.S. with an appeal to support these initiatives, which will not only save the lives of infants and young children who suffer the effects of hunger, but could also change the future for entire generations of at-risk communities around the world.
Hope Through Healing Hands is a Nashville-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to promote improved quality of life for citizens and communities around the world using health as a currency for peace.
The Eleanor Crook Foundation is a growing family philanthropy that seeks innovative, multi-sector solutions to global hunger and malnutrition. It is estimated that on average every dollar spent on nutrition yields an astounding $45 in societal benefits and savings. We believe that improving global nutrition must become a top development priority.
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