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Clifford Clinton, Founder
Meals For Millions | |
Meals for Millions, the founding organization of Freedom from Hunger,
was established to realize the vision of an extraordinary man. Clifford
Clinton was a successful entrepreneur who first took action against
hunger in his own neighborhood and then saw the dimensions of that
neighborhood expand to encompass the world.
The child of missionaries
stationed in China at the turn of the century, Clinton saw people starve
to death. They had tried everything to keep their families fed, but
with no resources and no options, they slowly perished. For Clifford
Clinton, the experience defined his life. During the Depression he
became the owner of Clifton's Cafeterias in Southern California. He
never turned anyone away because they couldn't pay for a meal. But he
wanted to do more.
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Dr. Henry Borsook,
Cal Tech Biochemist |
As World War II raged on in Europe and the Pacific,
it became apparent to Clinton and others that the Allied victory would
be tempered by the widespread famine that the war would leave in its
wake.
In 1944, Clinton asked Dr. Henry Borsook, a Cal Tech biochemist, to
develop a food supplement that would provide proper nutritional values
while costing no more than five cents per meal. Clinton offered $5,000
of his own money to finance the research. In less than one year, Dr.
Borsook met the challenge and brought forth Multi-Purpose Food (MPF), a
high-protein food supplement that could be made for just three cents per
meal. Production started immediately.
The world first heard about MPF through a Reader's Digest article
published in September 1945. Titled "How We Can Feed Europe's Hungry,"
the article generated numerous contributions from readers eager to help.
The money was returned, however, because no agency yet existed to
distribute MPF to the world's hungry people.
Although Clinton approached several government agencies and relief
and welfare organizations, he was unsuccessful in persuading them to
undertake the tremendous task of distributing MPF. As a result, Clinton,
along with Dr. Borsook and a few California business associates, decided
to incorporate their own non-profit. General Mills agreed to manufacture
MPF on a massive scale and on July 5, 1946, the Meals for Millions
Foundation was born. Its mission: relief and prevention of starvation.
Its tool: Multi-Purpose Food, the "Friendship Food for a Hungry
World."
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Immediately, MPF was shipped to countries where chronic malnutrition
and famine were rampant. During the next ten years, 6.5 million pounds
of MPF were distributed to relief agencies in 129 countries, including
the United States. This decade was devoted to experimenting, learning
and documenting the true merits and acceptability of MPF. Reports were
produced as the basis of the Foundation's accounting to contributors,
while results were gathered for scientific documentation and evaluation
on the merits of MPF.
As famine abated in the mid-1950s, Clifford Clinton began leading his
organization away from relief and toward the prevention of chronic
hunger--a condition that affects many more millions of people. Clinton
was convinced that while food relief was essential as a stop-gap measure
to fight starvation, chronic hunger and malnutrition required something
more: self-help. As new self-help programs developed, MPF began a slow
transition process.
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President
John F. Kennedy | |
In the 1960s, another organization began to cross the path of Meals
for Millions. The American Freedom from Hunger Foundation, founded at
the behest of President John F. Kennedy, mobilized Americans to become
involved in the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's) global
Freedom from Hunger campaign. The organization's mission was to educate
the American public about hunger issues and to encourage
volunteerism.
In 1968, the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation sponsored its first
"Walk for Development." It was an enormous success, drawing more than
3,000 participants, 650 of whom walked the entire 33 miles, through the
streets of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Within a year,
more than 100 "Walks" raised over $800,000 and involved over a million
people in 16 states.
One of the early beneficiaries of the walks was Meals for Millions. It
was the beginning of a relationship that would bring the two
organizations together. In 1979, Meals for Millions merged with the
American Freedom from Hunger Foundation. The newly blended organization
dedicated itself to serving the poorest of the poor in rural areas where
the need was greatest. The final shipment of MPF was sent. Other
organizations providing disaster relief took up the manufacture and
distribution of high-protein, vitamin-enriched food supplements
patterned after MPF.
In 1987, the name Meals for Millions was dropped in favor of Freedom
from Hunger to reflect the organization's focus on the long-term
challenge of creating a world without hunger. Today, Freedom from Hunger
still follows the vision of its founder, using sound nutritional science
to guide its programs, being mindful of scarce resources and, most of
all, giving people resources to help themselves to a future free from
hunger. |
