The Cincinnati Chapter (Chapter 31) of the School Nutrition Association of Ohio monthly meeting was all about Global Hunger Awareness when they met at Sycamore Schools on April 14, 2008.
The featured speaker was Nick Clooney, a renowned journalist in the Cincinnati area who is the father of actor, George Clooney and brother of the late singer, Rosemary Clooney.
Nick Clooney and his son George remain very close. The pair visited the troubled region of Darfur in Sudan and worked to get the crisis noticed by those in power. They labeled the situation the "first genocide of the 21st century." Mr. Clooney shared some of what he learned during the trip with the group.
In relation to the Darfur crisis, Nick Clooney said "I have been a reported for 50 years. Maybe three or four stories in your lifetime are life-changing and you go in as a reporter and come out as an advocate. You don’t usually like to do that but this time I did. So yes, it was life-changing." He did not ask people to donate money to the cause, but instead wanted people to know about the urgent action that is needed for the cause. He asked the people to contact their congress people, senators and media to continue to let more people know about what is going on in Dafur and create action.
Continuing with the theme of giving back, the group brought change to donate as part of the National "Change our World" campaign and played Bingo for 25 cents per card. Schwan’s Food Service provided the game and prizes. All total, the group raised $400.75 that will be donated to The Global Child Nutrition Association on behalf of the chapter. GCNF works to help nations build and sustain feeding programs.
