Hendersonville, Tenn., junior launches aid organization to 'Fight the Famine' in Somalia; wristband sales raise more than $3,000 for the cause

In America, $5 buys a large cup of coffee, but in Somalia, it can feed a family for two weeks. That realization encouraged University of Richmond junior Shiksha Mahtani to found an aid organization, Fight the Famine.

Mahtani, of Hendersonville, Tenn., remembers clearly her inspiration for founding the charity.

"I came across an article by the New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof about the famine in Somalia," she said. "I was reading about how approximately 750,000 people were dying every few months, just because they didn't have food to eat."

Mahtani wanted to help stop the forced migration of Somali refugees to the Kenyan border, where they are often attacked my bandits. "I kept thinking to myself, 'Why aren't people doing something about this?' Then I realized that I too could be doing something about it," she said.

Mahtani spent her own money buying 2,100 light blue wristbands with a white star representing the flag of Somalia on them. She then posted flyers and spoke to student organizations and classes promoting and selling the wristbands.

"I told them that of the 2 to 3 cups of coffee that they were buying daily," she said, "they should just give up one to feed a starving Somali for two weeks."

So far, Fight the Famine has sold 665 wristbands, and donated $3,328 to The African Future, an aid organization directly serving starving Somalis. Fight the Famine's Facebook page is adorned with photos of people wearing the wristbands in places such as Alaska and Argentina. With the help of Mahtani's cousin, Karan Wadhwa, the organization has three promotional videos available on YouTube. Mahtani hopes to sell all of the wristbands to raise $10,000, then start a new project for the organization.

Mahtani is a leadership studies and political science double major, with a concentration in social justice and gender equality. She hopes to become a lawyer.