This week it was reported that a stampede killed 14 women and children in Pakistan and injured dozens more. The victims, who were either trampled or suffocated in the crush, were waiting in a line to get emergency rations of flour.

The hunger crisis has driven people in poor and developing nations to desperation. In 2008, people in several countries, including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal, took to the streets to protest a 43% spike in global food costs. At least a dozen people were killed and hundreds arrested.

Although food and fuel cost spikes have diminished in the past year, the United Nations warns us against a false sense of security. One billion people in the world are still at risk of going hungry. Food prices remain high: according to a United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization report, 78 percent of developing countries surveyed reported that domestic food prices remained above early 2008 price levels. 31 countries worldwide, including 20 African nations, are in a state of food emergency.

In July, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the G8 leaders that feeding the world’s hungry “is about even more than alleviating human suffering; it is about global peace and stability.” Therefore, the simple act of providing a family with emergency food actually promotes a healthy, secure future for us all.

In Kenya, the rainy season has failed to help with drought conditions. According to the United Nations, the number of drought-affected people has risen from 2.6 million to 3.8 million people. Herders and small farmers are especially affected. Experts estimate that half the country’s cattle and goat population will be lost by season’s end, devastating the country’s food supply and farmers’ and herders’ savings and livelihoods.

A funding shortage at the World Food Programme (WFP), which provides 78 countries with 3.9 million tons of food, has jeopardized services in many countries, including Kenya. As the largest recipient of WFP food in Kenya, Feed The Children feeds an estimated 200,000 people in the country. With WFP grain supply in Kenya in danger and more people facing hunger because of drought, Feed The Children’s emergency food assistance programs are more important than ever.

Next stop on the Americans Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan: Lancaster, South Carolina.

Lancaster, with a population of 8,000, is county seat to Lancaster County, a rural county in South Carolina. As previously reported, non-metro areas face unique challenges, including an average poverty rate of 15.8% compared to 12.4% in urban counties. Additionally, both private and public services are more difficult to attain due to access and transportation limitations.

Now there’s a new challenge: the USDA is recommending the discontinuation of rural transportation grants for the Summer Food Service Program, an initiative designed to connect low-income children with congregate feeding sites in the summertime. Such factors underscore why Feed The Children food distribution events are so important—they put food and personal care items directly into people’s hands in their own communities.

When 10 Feed The Children trucks drive into Lancaster, accompanied by our friends at STAR Touring, we’ll be remembering the great need that exists in every community in this country, whether rural, urban, or suburban.