The “Hunger No More: Faces Behind the Facts” television documentary, produced by the National Council of Churches, will be airing on ABC (American Broadcasting Company) related stations across the States on October 24, 2004, the NCC announced on August 31.

According to the NCC, the TV documentary “takes an unflinching look at the persistent problem of hunger in the 21st century – and offers solutions” from “the perspective of faith.” Problems include those faced by “millions of Americans and nearly a billion people worldwide,” who has to ask “where the next meal is coming from.”

Burton Buller, President of Mennonite Media, who produced the program on behalf of the NCC, said "The program brings to life the moral dimension of this thorny issue, and offers up a vision for a new day when hunger is eradicated from the face of the earth."

"It is a moral issue that needs immediate resolution," added Buller.

Robert Edgar, the general secretary of NCC, said the TV special is being produced as a part of the NCC’s commitment "to address significant issues of faith and public policy and to pursue concrete solutions to the persistent challenge of poverty in a time of great wealth and capability in our society."

The program features renowned figures including:

* Senator Elizabeth Dole,

* former Senator and presidential candidate George McGovern,

* renowned ethicist Jeffrey Sachs of The Earth Institute at Columbia University,

* Bread for the World CEO David Beckmann,

* Church World Service Executive Director John McCullough,

* NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar,

* Joan Holmes of the United Nations-related Hunger Project,

* Ken Horne, CEO of the Society of St. Andrew,

* Joe Young, Director of Community Development, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,

* June Kim, Executive Secretary for World Hunger of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and

* leaders from several other hunger programs mobilized by NCC member communions.

In addition to the NCC, other groups sponsoring the program include: the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the World Hunger Program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Society of St. Andrew, and the ecumenical humanitarian agency Church World Service, with cooperation from Bread for the World and United Methodist Communication.