COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 28, 2008 – Compassion International has created the Global Food Crisis Fund to deal with a problem that experts say is sweeping the planet.

U.N. officials have called the global food crisis a “tsunami” that could plunge an additional 100 million people on every continent into hunger. Around the world, food prices have risen as much as 50 percent since 2006. More than 800 million people are at risk of starvation.

“This is an urgent situation that Compassion is committed to seeing through to the end,” said Mark Hanlon, senior vice president, USA at Compassion International. Our top priority is our children, and we’re making every effort possible to meet their immediate needs. We’re also mobilizing our church partners and advocates across the country to take action on this pressing issue in their own communities.”

For information on contributing to the Global Food Crisis Fund, people can visit Compassion online at www.compassion.com or call 800.336.7676, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST, Monday through Friday.

All Compassion countries are eligible to receive money from the fund. Haiti and Bangladesh have already requested help.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is in a period of political transition. Lawmakers refused to ratify the latest nominee for prime minister, meaning that the country has no permanent government. Because of this, Haiti cannot sign any agreements or accept the millions of dollars in promised aid awaiting approval from the World Bank, the World Food Program, the United Nations and other organizations.

Reports out of Bangladesh, which is also suffering from water and electricity crises, indicate that poor children are scavenging for food. Compassion officials at one project say that sponsored children go hungry on the days when the project is closed.

Compassion is one of the world’s largest Christian child-development organizations, working with more than 65 denominations and 4,500 indigenous church partners. It serves more than 1 million children in Africa, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Since 1952, Compassion has touched the lives of more than 1.8 million children and has been recognized for its financial integrity with top ratings and recommendations by several of the nation’s leading not-for-profit “watchdog” organizations.

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