By REBEKAH BALDWIN
Special to The Citizen

According to Nick Brock, a senior at McIntosh High School, knowledge is the most powerful thing you can give someone — and that is exactly what he is trying to do with his local branch of the organization Feed Just One.

“It’s not even about raising the money. What I really liked (about Feed Just One) — it was about spreading awareness,” says Brock.

One of Brock’s main goals is to give people knowledge about the global problem of starvation, and make them aware that there is a bigger world out there than their own personal experience.

This goal is also central to the national organization Feed Just One, which tries not only to raise money, but also to inform people about different countries and cultures and the problems they are facing, according to Brock.

Feed Just One was started by Dallas Harris in 2007 out of a personal desire to change the world. Harris partnered with an organization called Feed My Starving Children which packages and ships food to starving people around the world. Feed Just One raises money to cover the shipping cost of that food.

Feed Just One raises money by selling t-shirts and stickers, by holding benefit concerts and other events, and also accepts monetary donations.

Feed Just One firmly believes that every person can make a difference, no matter how much money, time, or skills they have.

“No matter what your circumstances, you can change someone’s life. You don’t have to fix the entire problem to successfully change the world. The number of people that you help isn’t as important as the fact that you are willing to get out there and help,” Harris stresses.

Brock agrees with this idea, and it is a big influence on how he runs the local chapter.

“It doesn’t matter how much you give. Any amount will help,” he says.

Brock tries to inspire people to give what they can, but never wants to guilt people into giving. He feels that sends the wrong message, and “goes against everything I’ve tried to do with this.”

Instead, Brock would like to see people get involved because they really believe in the cause and want to help change the world.

“Seeing people care about it is the best feeling,” Brock explains.

Brock also tries not to give too many numbers — like the statistic that 72 people a minute, 9 million a year, die of starvation — because people won’t really be able to grasp the scope of the situation anyway.

“Nobody’s seen 9 million people,” explains Brock.

He believes that overwhelming statistics will only make people feel incapable of helping. Instead Brock, like Harris, tries to get people to see that they can make a difference.

Brock first heard about Feed Just One at a benefit/awareness concert at his church a year and a half ago.

“For some reason it just struck my interest,” he says.

So he contacted Dallas Harris via the Internet and asked how he could help.

The first thing Brock did was start a common interest group on the social networking website Facebook and invite all of his friends. The group grew to 300 members in the first night, which is, according to Brock, more than the number of friends he has on Facebook.

Brock also did a lot of research, not just about Feed Just One, but about the greater issue of malnourishment to make himself completely aware of the problem.

Brock started his branch with a bunch of flyers and 100 stickers that Harris had sent him to sell. Soon after, Brock and his friends started also selling bracelets through Threads of Hope, an organization that pays children in the Philippines to make bracelets, which are then sold overseas. Threads of Hope provides the children with jobs so they don’t have to turn to other ways to make money, such as prostitution.

“The bracelets were a huge hit,” says Brock.

The group sells the bracelets to their classmates for two dollars: one dollar goes to Threads of Hope to cover the cost of the bracelet and the other goes to support Feed Just One.

The bracelets have been the best money-raising tool, but they are more than that to Brock.

“My hope is — here’s this bracelet, here’s this story,” says Brock.

He tries to explain what Feed Just One and Threads of Hope do, and why they do it, to every person who buys a bracelet. It comes back to the fact that, for Brock, it’s really not about the money being raised, but about people becoming aware of the issues.

The bracelets are also a good way to get the word out about the local chapter of Feed Just One. Students see their peers wearing these bracelets and want one for themselves.

Another way that Brock has raised awareness is by simply wearing his Feed Just One shirt, which says “This shirt feeds starving children.” He explained that he has had a lot of people come up and ask about his shirt which gives him the opportunity to tell them about Feed Just One.

The effectiveness of the T-shirt in promoting the cause has led Brock to decide to start selling T-shirts at McIntosh.

Brock has already received permission from the national organization Feed Just One to use their shirt design and has permission from the McIntosh administration to sell the shirts at school.

There will be two T-shirt options, both of which will be printed by the graphic arts department at McIntosh. One will cost $18 and will feed one child for an entire year. The other will cost $10 and proceeds will serve as a donation to Feed Just One.

Brock is also planning an art show to raise awareness and money for Feed Just One. The art show would feature live music, food, and pieces created specifically for the event by Brock’s friends.

He is requesting the donation of pieces that center around the word “hope.” Money raised from selling these pieces will go directly to Feed Just One.

Brock also plans to have a booth set up at the event to sell bracelets and stickers and give people more information about the organization.

He has some big plans for the near future of this local chapter, but he hasn’t given much thought to the long term. Brock will graduate in May, and is unsure what will happen to the group after that. He wants to keep it going, he says, possibly through his brother who will be a freshman at McIntosh next year.

So far, Brock’s local chapter of Feed Just One has raised over $1,000 from selling bracelets and stickers and $300 in flat donations.

More than anything, Brock really wants to get other high schoolers involved.

Displaying the passion which has driven him to get involved with Feed Just One, Brock reveals his hope for those who hear about the group: “I wanna make you a part of this story, this movement.”

For more information and to find out how you can help, go to weareoverlooked.com/about or contact Brock at nickbrock1991@yahoo.com. Facebook users can also search for Brock’s online group, named “Feed Just One- Georgia!”

login to post comments