4.21.25
Tune in to Viewpoint With Seeta and Friends AM 1510 WWBC today from 1pm until 2pm. Today’s show is showcasing The Leopard Tree, a book and a movement, that supports children and family abroad in 26 countries. On the second segment The Children’s Hunger Project with Executive Director Cheryl Cominsky, sponsored by Mitchell Goldman attorney.
The Leopard Tree, Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu
Three orphans from Kenya stow away on an airplane to embark on a desperate quest to meet the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York City and deliver a message they hope will help millions of homeless and hurting children in Africa. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz becomes their guidebook as they journey alone across the United States. The trio–one with HIV, one blind amputee, and one who hasn’t spoken for years after watching her family slaughtered–find themselves embroiled in a situation beyond their imaginations as they get close to meeting their goal.
The Leopard Tree won the Best Young Adult Fiction Award in 2008 with Writer’s Digest International Self-published Competition and a Third Place EVVY in the Fiction Division of Colorado Independent Publisher’s Awards in 2008. This book was written with the hope of raising awareness of the millions of people in Africa who suffer the effects of malnutrition, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and the unspeakable atrocities associated with armed conflicts.
Lisa Brochu and Tim Merriman have spent the last four decades helping people connect with our global natural and cultural heritage. This is their first work of adult fiction, but they have several other non-fiction books in print. Through their books and speaking engagements, they hope to help others to know more and do more about the daily challenges in meeting basic needs that face tens of millions of people in developing nations. When they are not traveling the globe, Tim and Lisa live in Fort Collins, Colorado, on a small farm where they raise much of their own food. They can be contacted by email at lbrochu57@gmail.com and timfmerriman@gmail.com.
The Children’s Hunger Project
Segment sponsored by: Cindy Goldman, ABWA chapter president and wife of Mitchell S. Goldman. Mr Goldman is the firm’s founder and managing partner. He practices in the areas of secured transactions, asset-based lending and commercial real estate law, with particular emphasis on lender representation. These include loans for commercial refinancing, real estate and non-real estate secured lines of credit, SBA 7(a) and 504 transactions and construction loans. He represents national, local and private lenders throughout the state.
Cheryl Caminsky tells us about The Children’s Hunger Project: In Brevard County, the number of children in the free and reduced-price meal program exceeds 50%. Some elementary schools have 80% or more of their kids on the free and reduced-price meal program with many of them at risk of childhood hunger and malnutrition.
When we talk about the risk of childhood hunger we base it on the fact the lunch program available in public schools around the country has been recognized by our government and various charities as the key indicator of hunger risk and poverty in a geographic area.
Childhood hunger leads to a weaker immune system, difficulty in learning and paying attention in class, and behaving properly to retain what they learn. Hungry kids are sick more often and have lower academic achievement.
Brevard County Schools, to their great credit, provide a free breakfast plus a healthy lunch through
the program during the week. For some students, though, lunch on Friday is the last regular meal they will receive until the following Monday. The Children’s Hunger Project, Inc. provides weekend meals and fights childhood hunger and malnutrition during the school year. Teachers and school administrators, those on the front line of caring for our children while they are away from their parents during the week, know firsthand of the weekend hunger problem. The teachers know as they wave goodbye on Fridays which students will not have proper nutrition over the weekend. They know which students will arrive Monday morning ill-prepared to learn properly.
We look with horror at pictures coming from other countries where children are hungry. We generously give to charities feeding children in those countries. It is time we address childhood hunger in our own back yard.
No child in our great country should go two days without proper food and nutrition.
The time is right to address the local problem of childhood hunger and malnutrition
By addressing this problem, The Children’s Hunger Project, Inc. is responsible for positive results in children including:
- Improved attendance
- Better test scores
- Improved reading skills
- Positive behavior
- Improved health
Kids are also hungry on the weekends. Food is the foundation for school success.