UFWH (English)
Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH)
UFWH started in 2004 at the University of Auburn in Auburn, Alabama, USA in partnership with the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization). UFWH has activities on almost 300 university campuses around the world. The founding goal of UFWH is to develop and put in place an action agenda for students and faculty that leads to a university community that is fully engaged in the effort to eliminate hunger. For more information on UFWH: Universities Fighting World Hunger
Miskolc University’s UFWH team partners with the Hungarian Red Cross (Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County) to help people in our area—not some far off place—who are hungry and need assistance. In its autumn and spring campaigns, volunteers collect donations of staples (canned goods and food that will last) on campus (cash can also be donated). You do not have to donate anything large, because even small donations add up. The food that is given has to have a best-before date of at least three months. The local branch of Red Cross will make sure that the donated items are distributed to people who need them.
Feedback on the efforts of the University of Miskolc team
Dennis Engel, a BTK Modern Filológiai Intézetének oktatója 2013 óta rendszeresen, minden évben két alkalommal szervezi meg az UFWH (Universities Fighting World Hunger, Egyetemek harca az éhezés ellen) akciót a Miskolci Egyetemen.
Kollégánk lelkes és áldozatkész munkájának, valamint az oktatók és hallgatók pozitív hozzáállásának, aktív részvételének az eredményét tükrözik az alábbi visszajelzések:
“As always, it is so good to hear from you and to know that you and your students are continuing to be engaged members of Universities Fighting World Hunger. The University of Miskolc and Stenden University in The Netherlands are our most active campuses in Europe.” (UFWH website, 2016)
“Thanks for leading the way in Europe. I love seeing the posters in both Hungarian and English. You guys are small but mighty! Keep up the good work, and please express our greatest appreciation to the students who are part of this effort.” (excerpt from a message from the managing director, Hunger Solutions Institute, 2017)
“Shoutout to the UFWH team at Miskolci Egyetem (University of Miskolc)! They are so dedicated and do amazing work in the fight against hunger!” (shoutout on UFWH Facebook, 2017)
“Wow! What an impressive food drive you had this year. I am both amazed and excited to see how far this annual event has come since its launch a few short years ago. We are so proud of your students and so grateful to you [Dennis Engel] for your leadership in support of the UFWH mission.” (excerpt from a message from the managing director, Hunger Solutions Institute, 2019)


Recent campaigns
I would like to sincerely THANK everyone who donated to our 2019 spring food drive! With your help we were able to collect 667.5 kg of food and 39,545 forints. Our previous bests were 188 kg and 33,765 forints. Why was there such an increase in the amount of food? We got permission from the Tesco near the university to collect food there, and, also, the drive was for three days instead of the usual two.
A big thank you to all those who participated in the collection in our 2018 fall food drive as volunteers and/or donors! 159 kilograms of food were collected, and 29,375 forints in cash donations were made.
2018 spring food drive
Thanks to all those who participated in the collection as volunteers and/or donors! This time 173.6 kilograms of food were collected, and 33,765 forints in cash donations. This is the best result in recent collections (October 2017 – 164 kg, 14,800 Ft.; spring 2017 148 kg, 5,715 Ft.). Keep up the good work!
World Food Day, A Day Celebrated All Over the World—Because of some Hungarians
by Dennis Engel
Thanks to some Hungarians, every year a day close to the middle of October is celebrated around the world! You might never have known about it or heard of it, but World Food Day is commemorated annually on October 16th in over 150 countries. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the issues behind poverty and hunger.
And what is the Hungarian connection to World Food Day? In 1979 World Food Day was chosen to take place on 16 October by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This day marks the date of the creation of the FAO in 1945. At the 1979 conference where this proclamation about World Food Day was first made, the Hungarian Delegation (led by the former Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Dr. Pál Romány) played an active role and suggested the idea of celebrating World Food Day across the globe.
So, there you have it! A celebration that is observed in many countries across the world came to be thanks in part to the initiative of some Hungarians. Let’s keep this spirit alive and have World Food Day make a great impact on our community by holding a fruitful collection each year!