TO THE EDITOR:

Some time ago, I read an article about the 2011 famine in Somalia. Thirty thousand children perished within a three-month period. Thirty thousand children! For comparison, that is one-third of Quincy’s population.

I was reminded of this article recently at a UNICEF convention in Washington, D.C., where I learned of a fortified peanut paste called RUTF, or Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food. Apparently, a single packet of this paste contains more nutrients than in three cups of milk, one orange and one and a half carrots combined. The impact is staggering. For example, there is an area in Nigeria where one of every five at-risk malnourished children may die. The packet changes this statistic to one in 100.

I wanted to be part of this transformation, so I made a donation to this effort. I have a simple request: If you have benefited from the kindness of strangers, I ask that you consider being the kind stranger in the lives of vulnerable children. You can go directly to UNICEF USA’s website and donate: unicefusa.org/give-hope-gift-nutrition.

Just $40 of this “magic peanut paste” can save the life of a child. Transforming peril into hope – it would be hard to top this for the best kind of magic trick.

SUVAN SHUKLA
Milton

Here's one opinion. What's yours? Click here to write a letter to the editor of up to 200 words or leave a comment on the story. To give everyone a chance to be heard, we allow one letter per writer every 30 days. Read more columns, editorials and letters.