From meals for Western New York families to peanut-based medicine for malnourished children in Haiti, the ministry's Dec. 1 appeal backs work already underway.
By EEW Magazine Online Editors
A girl in Haiti, where more than half the population now faces crisis-level hunger. (Rafael Fabres/Getty Images, File)
In Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, a malnourished child's road back to health can begin with a container of peanut paste that Haitians call Medika Mamba, or "peanut butter medicine." Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, Inc. helps put that treatment into children's hands in northern Haiti, and it serves families facing hunger in Western New York and war-torn Sudan.
On GivingTuesday, Dec. 1, the ministry is asking supporters to strengthen that work through Hungry for Change, its 2026 campaign against hunger at home and abroad.
"When a mother is wondering how she's going to feed her children, that need is immediate, and it matters deeply to God," said Dianna Hobbs, the ministry's founder and CEO. "We have an opportunity to come alongside families who are struggling and help put food on their tables. That's what Hungry for Change is about."
Close to home, the need keeps growing. New SNAP work requirements that took effect in New York on March 1 have added pressure on families. About 146,000 recipients statewide were subject to the new rules as of June, state officials told Gothamist. The burden falls unevenly. In some U.S. counties, food insecurity reaches up to 2 in 3 Black residents, according to a Feeding America study.
A woman waits in line for a free Thanksgiving turkey at the Queens Community Justice Center in New York City on a cold, rainy Nov. 22, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images, File)
Empowering Everyday Women meets that need through local food outreach, including its annual Thanksgiving Hunger Relief campaign, which provides warm, nourishing meals for struggling families during the holiday season. Through national partnerships, the ministry also supports the food distribution networks of hunger-relief organizations across the country.
In Haiti, hunger now reaches more than half the population. The latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the global hunger monitor, found that 5.94 million people face crisis-level hunger or worse through February, including about 1.8 million in emergency conditions. Gang violence has displaced nearly 1.5 million Haitians, cutting families off from work, markets and food.
Working through humanitarian organizations on the ground, the ministry provides Medika Mamba to malnourished children in Cap-Haïtien and Quartier Morin. The paste treats severe acute malnutrition, and families feed it to their children at home. A full course of treatment lasts about six weeks.
A young child eats ready-to-use therapeutic food from a sachet while sitting on a woman’s lap. (UNICEF)
Children often begin showing signs of improvement within the first one to two weeks, according to researchers who helped develop the program in Haiti. More about the ministry's work there is on its Haiti page.
In Sudan, more than three years of civil war have left about 19.5 million people facing crisis-level hunger or worse, according to the IPC. In October, the hunger monitor warned of a growing risk of famine across parts of Darfur and Kordofan. It estimates that 825,000 children under 5 will suffer severe acute malnutrition this year.
Mothers bear much of the weight. In a humanitarian assessment based on World Food Programme data, 45% of female-headed households in Sudan reported poor food consumption, nearly double the rate for households led by men.
Displaced Sudanese families, mostly women and children, gather for rations at a World Food Programme distribution site in Daba Naira camp on Feb. 27, 2026. (Giles Clarke/Avaaz via Getty Images, File)
The ministry's Sudan appeal supports hunger relief for families caught in that crisis. Empowering Everyday Women also helps support the relief work of Food for the Hungry, including in Uganda.
For Hobbs, the work answers the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:35: "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat."
"Christ has called us to care for people in need," she said. "We want to answer that call with love and practical help."
Supporters can give to Hungry for Change through the ministry's GivingTuesday page, which also offers a downloadable giving guide. Gifts to Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
"Every gift tells a hungry family that someone sees them," Hobbs said. "That is the change we are hungry for."
EEW Magazine Online is a platform of Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, Inc.
