“We know that if we only feed the children, that doesn’t really address the issue of poverty that exists in the communities in which they live,” says Kevin Hagan, president and CEO of Feed the Children.
Hagan, who has been at the helm of Feed the Children for nine months, talks about the organization and its initiatives in a new Skype interview with EthicsDaily.com.

Skype Interview: Kevin Hagan from EthicsDaily on Vimeo.

Founded in 1979, the Oklahoma City-based organization is one of the largest U.S.-based international relief and development agencies. It works overseas and at home.
Hagan, a graduate of Mercer University and American University, discusses the organization’s “child-focused community development programs,” which seek to address the underlying causes of hunger.

The programs address four pillars: food and nutrition; water and sanitation; health and education; and community livelihood development.

“While feeding is our initial intervention into a community, we then work with that community on all fronts and customize whatever the community needs,” says Hagan, who brings to Feed the Children experience in the nonprofit, private and government sectors.

Feed the Children has built safe water supplies, schools and medical clinics, for example.

The goal, says Hagan, is to have the community self-sustainable in eight to 10 years. Currently, the organization feeds 350,000 children every day in 10 countries.

Hagan also talks about the domestic work done by Feed the Children.

The organization serves all 50 states and provides, among other things, emergency food relief, personal care products, education supplies and disaster relief.

“Child hunger in the U.S. is really real,” says Hagan. “There are 17 million children in the United States right now who will go to bed hungry tonight. And that’s a tragic statement for one of the wealthiest counties in the world to have.”

Watch the interview with Hagan at vimeo.com/ethicsdaily/skype-kevinhagan

Learn more about Feed the Children at FeedTheChildren.org

Watch other EthicsDaily.com Skype interviews at vimeo.com/ethicsdaily

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