It’s about that girl. The one who (could have been) you. The girl who lives in rural America. Her parents didn’t graduate from high school, and neither did she. Her destiny as a young mother seems assured. But she wants more.

It’s about the girl who walks 2 miles before dawn to get to a school that provides safety, but only promises her a sixth grade education. With no foreseeable income of her own and no way to gain independence, she will be a wife before her 15th birthday and a mother before her 16th. But she wonders if there is more.

It’s about that boy. The one who (could have been) your son. The one who has thin arms and ashy skin and is at risk of being kidnapped tonight and forced to join a resistance army. Being forced to operate a gun before his voice stops cracking.

It’s about the boy who grew up in the concrete jungle and learned about life from the wrong kids. The one who found a family on the streets. The one who belongs, but at a cost. He hates himself for the things he’s seen and done. But he can’t turn back.

It’s about that mother. The one who wonders. The one who gave up her daughter because she didn’t have the money to feed her. The one who wonders if her daughter dances in the bars, paints her lips, and wears bells on her ankles. Wonders if her child’s beautiful eyes have grown dull behind eyelids she shuts tight night after night instead of looking into the eyes of the men who abuse her.

It’s about that man. The one who works double shifts a few times a week to be able to pay medical bills and buy shoes for his kids. The one who goes without meals so his daughter can get braces on her teeth. The one who can’t afford to buy fruits and vegetables and buys boxed food instead. He’s swimming in debt and has no idea how to get his head above water. He’s already lost his home; what’s next?

It’s about that elder. The one everyone looks up to as the community leader. The one who has a postage-stamp sized piece of land and grows what he can each year to feed his family and maybe get a little extra. The one who can’t replant his seeds because they have been genetically modified with a terminator gene. The one who watches his friends, family, children die of hunger or because of preventable diseases.

Call us crazy, but we believe our world doesn’t have to be this way. We envision another world, we change these lives by sharing our resources. By opening our hearts. By reaching out our own hands.

And one hand at a time, we can nourish life. And that's why it matters. 

Learn more.