Two Pittsburgh Teens ‘Stuff their Faces’ for World Hunger

Here at Action Against Hunger we often get inquiries asking where people can send donations. So when our Student Outreach Fellow received an email from Charlie, a Pittsburgh teen, asking just that, she replied as she always does. She asked if he could tell us a little bit about the donation. Here is his surprising response:

"It began with me and my friend going down to Kings at the preposterous time of 3AM with the hopes of conquering the Angry Mob, a dessert Kings serves in a salad bowl. Our hopes were crushed by the grotesque size of the Angry Mob. After about two hours of gorging ourselves with the dessert, we realized we’d have to return home without the glory we had hoped for. Kings gave us pity posters and we left with our challenge unfinished.

"Well, being determined teenagers with a senseless goal of defeating the Angry Mob, we began planning our next attempt. Jokingly, I brought up the idea of trying to find sponsors for our eating contest. After some thought, we realized this was the direction we should head in. My friend coined the phrase, ‘Stuff Your Face for World Hunger’ and we were soon encouraging people to participate. And the greatest outcome we could have hoped for became reality: people were disturbed.

"We were receiving comments like, ‘Do you know how horrible that is? Stuffing your face for world hunger?’ Yes, our idea did seem ironic and even sort of twisted. I mean we were eating for world hunger. But we achieved part of our goal: we had made the gap between the rich and the poor uncomfortably apparent.

"After a few failed attempts at sponsorship, we needed to revise our plans. So, instead of seeking sponsors, we decided to hold a charity event. We realized that participants wouldn’t come to any ordinary event, but an eating contest always draws a crowd.

"We required each team of two to raise at least $50 in donations in order to participate. Then, for a team to win the contest, they would need to finish their dessert and lick their bowl clean. After a fulFILLing race, my friend and I finally accomplished our goal and came in first place!"

With their enthusiasm to finish the Angry Mob, Charlie and his peers raised $1,450 for Action Against Hunger, which will help fund our life-saving programs all over the world. We are so appreciative of Charlie and his friends’ donations, and we wanted to share this story with everyone to show how one late-night thought can have an enormous impact!

Thanks to everyone in Pittsburgh who participated in “Stuff Your Face for World Hunger”!