Press Release: 2021-12-07

UnlockĀ Children's Potential by Ending Child Hunger:

Unlock Children's Potential by Ending Child Hunger:



12/06/2021



Awab Ali Ibrahim, MD, Project Bread Board of Directors



I just joined Project Bread’s Board of Directors earlier this year, but as a pediatric gastroenterology fellow at Mass General Hospital, I see firsthand everyday how the food we eat can either give us a longer, healthier life. That means I have also seen the debilitating long-term effects that a lack of proper nutrition can have on our bodies.



I was born in Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world. I know that the nutrition my parents were able to provide me as a child was a big factor in my ability to succeed in school and become a doctor, and I look back fondly at the times my family gather around the dinner table for a home cooked meal. It’s why I’ve made it my life's mission to help kids experiencing food insecurity, so they can achieve their dreams — and what's lead me to join Project Bread’s Board of Directors.



I take a food-as-medicine approach while caring for patients with various gastrointestinal problems, including illnesses like obesity, constipation, weight loss, and inflammatory bowel disease. I really believe that nutrition is the key to determining one’s health trajectory. We are continuing to expand our knowledge about how food can also act as a cure for many diseases. This is especially true in my field of gastroenterology as almost all of the conditions that we see have a nutritional therapeutic component. How we eat can have a huge effect on someone’s quality of life.”



For many families, the pandemic is far from over, and children are the most vulnerable to the health impacts of hunger. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of proper nutrition in child health. Right now, you can give a child the nutrition they need — which could be the key that unlocks their full potential, as it was for me. Your support of Project Brad will give food insecure children access to healthy, nutritious meals.