This year’s World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers will add more great moments to the storied history of the Fall Classic. But let’s remember some unsung heroic moments of past World Series.
Let’s take a step back to the 1943 World Series during World War II. The New York Yankees defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win the title. That World Series also raised donations for the American Red Cross and the charities of the National War Fund. Baseball set up a fundraising organization called War Relief and Service to gather the donations. This was an incredible charitable effort taking place during World War II to provide humanitarian aid at home and overseas.
The 1944 World Series also collected donations for the National War Fund and the American Red Cross. Baseball shared its receipts at some of the World Series games with the National War Fund. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were collected. An article later in the Hartford Courant newspaper read “National War Fund Gets Huge Sum from Baseball.”
The National War Fund supported numerous charities providing aid during World War II. Some charities helped U.S. soldiers while others provided life-saving food to war victims in Europe and Asia. Anyone could donate to the National War Fund to help the World War II effort.
As President Franklin D. Roosevelt told the nation about the National War Fund “Through a single gift to this united appeal we are able to extend the hand of friendship to millions of people at home and around the world — to perform millions of acts of kindness.”
That kindness made a big difference to our soldiers and to those victims overseas who were left starving because of the war. When malnourished children in Italy, Holland and Norway got food and milk it was via the charities of the National War Fund. World War II caused immense suffering among children and they needed aid from America to survive. Baseball was one of the ways Americans could donate through the National War Fund to help these children. We need more of this kindness and compassion today.
As this year’s World Series arrives we are seeing the most hunger emergencies since the WWII era. But there is low funding to meet this global crisis.
The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) just warned that it is running out of funds to feed the hungry in multiple nations, including Haiti. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continued fighting has led to record-setting levels of hunger. WFP, though, is so low on donations it cannot feed all the starving war victims. Peace efforts cannot succeed in the Congo without humanitarian aid.
William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.” (Courtesy photo)
War-torn Sudan is the world’s biggest humanitarian emergency but WFP and other aid agencies cannot keep up the rising hunger without enough donations. Children are left to starve to death if the world ignores a crisis.
There is so much war and hunger in the world right now. The largest war in Europe since WWII is taking place as Russia continues its brutal assault on Ukraine. Millions have been displaced and need humanitarian aid. The wars in Gaza and Sudan have led to famine. Haiti, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Congo, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and other nations are dealing with major hunger emergencies. Starvation is occurring daily in these countries.
Sadly, today the Trump administration has scaled back foreign aid which undermines humanitarian and peace efforts. We need to do better or the global crisis will worsen.
“The world is facing a rising tide of acute hunger that threatens millions of the most vulnerable — and the funds needed to help us respond are drying up,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “Every ration cut means a child goes to bed hungry, a mother skips a meal, or a family loses the support they need to survive. The lifeline that sustains millions of people is being cut before our eyes.”
We need to restore the lifeline of food for starving children and families around the globe. We can take inspiration from the charity shown at the World Series in the 1940s. President Roosevelt knew that acts of kindness were going to win peace in the world and that force prevailed over the evil forces of war. It can so again if we have the heart and will.
William Lambers is an author who partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.”