Editor,

President Trump’s destruction of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, is a crime against the values of the American people. It is unimaginable and unnecessary. By taking away food from starving children and their families, our President has shown a callousness that is incomprehensible and puts the most vulnerable on a path to death from preventable diseases like pneumonia, intestinal parasites, and measles.

I know. I work for the United Nations’ World Food Programme. I spend half my time on Whidbey and half in Africa making sure everyone has enough to eat. Let me tell you that every 100-pound bag of corn, bought from farmers in the Midwest and provided to the hungry, states in big blue letters “USAID, From the American People.” The families that receive it are grateful, and they do not forget.

I believe that no child should go to bed hungry anywhere, whether in Ethiopia or the United States. I have seen the transformation that takes place when malnourished children and their mothers receive food. They become healthy, attend school, and give thanks.

Our President’s thoughtless approach to USAID shows the world where he stands, but it does not show the world where we stand. I am reminded of Matthew 25:40: Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of mine, you did for Me.”

Will we help feed those in need or will we take away the food we have already given them? There is still time to restore USAID to its rightful place of demonstrating the values we hold dear. It is up to us, the American People, to make our voices heard.

Jeffrey Ried

Oak Harbor