Kids Join the Famine Fight

A global effort to raise money for emergency famine relief in Africa has taken root here, with children from across the South Fork coming together with a sense of urgency in a Fight the Famine campaign. Now, a fund-raiser will be held at the Bridgehampton Community House on Main Street on April 29, a Saturday, from 4 to 7 p.m. Proceeds will directly benefit UNICEF, an organization that works in 190 countries and territories to put children first.

UNICEF estimates that 1.4 million children from South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, and Somalia are at risk of imminent death from severe acute malnutrition — the effects of famine brought on by massive droughts and climate change, conflict and war, and economic inflation. Across the continent, 16 million people are desperately in need of food, water, and medical treatment, with devastating effects for some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

When students were asked why they wanted to help people so far away, their answers were potent. “Kids just like us are starving,” Atlas Geirsson, a student at the Hayground School, said.

“I care because even if we live in different countries, we’re all human, and if we have food, they have every right to food as well,” said Madeline Grabb, a Bridgehampton School student.

The fund-raiser will feature finger foods thought up and prepared by high school students from Bridgehampton’s nutrition and culinary program; table decorations by children in the nursery program at the Green School in Bridgehampton; fabric art by Hayground students featuring flags and indigenous trees, birds, and flowers of the afflicted African countries; a crafts table manned by the kids from Montauk’s Camp SoulGrow; auction items and prizes procured and organized by Ross School students and kids from Shelter Island; drinks and table coverings by East Hampton’s John M. Marshall Elementary School students and PTA, and publicity and social media by students from Liz Bertsch and Mbachi Kumwenda’s class at Hayground. The event will also feature a D.J. and dancing.

“We commend the East End kids for their commitment to helping their peers around the world,” said Michele Walsh, the managing director for the New York region at UNICEF USA. “Every dollar raised helps UNICEF carry out its lifesaving work for children and families affected by the crisis.”

Tickets for the event are $12 for adults, $10 for children. Additional donations have been encouraged. The website to visit for tickets and more information is events.unicefusa.org/ event/fight-the-famine.