WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2003 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will donate 10,000 metric tons of wheat to International Orthodox Christian Charities, Inc. (IOCC), a private voluntary organization, for a child education and nutrition project in Lebanon. The wheat is part of a USDA assistance package valued at around $8.5 million for this project.
IOCC will use the donated wheat to provide mid-morning meals to 35,000 students over a seven-month period. This school feeding project will help increase attendance and enrollment, improve student achievement, increase awareness of healthy habits and good nutrition, reduce short-term hunger and improve medical screening of school children.
The donation will be made under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service.
The McGovern-Dole program provides for USDA donations of agricultural commodities to promote education, child development and food security for some of the world’s poorest children. USDA expects to provide 150,000 tons of U.S. commodities to 21 countries under fiscal 2003 McGovern-Dole donation agreements.
For further information, contact Katrina Reid of FAS at (202) 720-7507, or by e-mail at Katrina.Reid@fas.usda.gov.
FAS news releases are available on the Internet at http://www.fas.usda.gov.
#PR 0227-03
