Hunger related deaths occur at the rate of 46,000 a day world-wide. Of those, 15,000 are kids. Putting it more bluntly, every six seconds a child dies of hunger related causes, all according to Melvin Horne, Cairo attorney who spoke to the Rotary Club Tuesday. He said the numbers are hard to comprehend and absorb, but thanks to a visit from a missionary years ago, he found something that he and others can do to help. 

He founded a satellite of Kids Against Hunger, a non-profit corporation, 11 years ago in Cairo, where volunteers package and send out meal packets containing a mixture of rice, soy beans, vitamins and dehydrated vegetables. Each package, when combined with boiling water, can feed six at a cost of $1.50 per package, or 25 cents per meal.

The packaged meals are packed in boxes that hold 36 packets and are shipped to foreign countries, as well as to Food Pantries and places in need in the United States.

Horne said every dollar donated to the cause goes to purchase product.

No salaries are paid, as all work is done by volunteers who come from schools, civic organizations, church groups, and interested individuals.

He said he recently delivered 15,000 lbs. of food to Orlando that was bound for Haiti. From the Cairo site alone 2.5 million kids have been fed.

The organization was founded 25 years ago, with help from food scientists who developed the recipe, and there are now 100 satellites that together furnish 45-50 million meals annually.

Horne said organizations are now tracking the progress of kids that eat the product and find they excel in school.

“We do make a difference. At the end of the day you can say what you’ve done is keep kids alive.”

An announcement was made that on March 5, what was formerly known as the Harlem Globetrotters will be in Cairo for a fundraiser. They will compete against a team made up of locals in what should be a fun game.

At the conclusion of the program, Rotary President Threasa Hall presented Horne a $1,000 check as a donation to Kids Against Hunger.