Nonprofit hopes to raise awareness for World Food Day

A Chicago-based nonprofit is asking people to spend Wednesday educating themselves about problems of hunger afflicting people on an international scale for World Food Day.

Jeff Klein, president and CEO of the Global Foodbanking Network, said World Food Day is about raising awareness and involvement for the cause of helping fix hunger across the world.

“We want people to understand the reality of a billion hungry people in the world,” he said. “It’s not about a lack of food. A third of the food produced never makes it to a person’s plate, so we need to figure out what we can do to recover more of that food and get it to the people who need it.”

The Global Foodbanking Network works with companies all over the world and has food banks in 21 countries.

Klein said hunger also hurts students trying to learn because instead of being focused on the lesson, they’ll be worried about their next meal.

Nibbles’ Play Café, 13 Huntington Way in Wheeling, is offering free admission on Wednesday to anyone who brings a bag of food to donate to local food pantries in recognition of World Food Day.