Unless you have been hungry for a very long period of time, you may not be able to appreciate and relate to what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about world hunger and a young couple that is doing something about it.

But first, these thoughts. Very early in my life my folks owned and operated a small restaurant, and my mother was an excellent cook, so I have never really been hungry. They owned this restaurant until I graduated from high school, moved out, went to college and got a job. It has been said that hunger is the world’s greatest solvable problem. However, we don’t have a food shortage in the world. We have a distribution problem of getting the food to the people who need it the most.

Even here in our great country we have pockets of poverty where food shortage is a problem, especially in areas like Appalachia. There are many homes where children, and some adults, do not get enough to eat.

Now back to the young couple I mentioned a moment ago. While I don’t know them personally, husband-and-wife team Austin and Ashton Samuelson grew up in Vilonia, Faulkner County, Arkansas. They truly have a heart for the hungry. In 2009, they learned that more than 18,000 children were dying worldwide each day due to starvation and hunger-related causes. What surprised them is that the problem was completely preventable.

They too had learned that the solution was nothing more than a distribution problem. This simple fact moved them so much that they knew they could and should do something to help solve the problem. Thus, the Tacos 4 Life concept was born. The Samuelsons believe that God is up to something big and can use Tacos 4 Life to help solve the hunger problem. The concept they developed is simple; they serve great Mexican food, namely tacos, in a unique environment and take a portion of each sale and give it to world hunger. They also invite their customers to help feed the hungry. Of course, their specialty is tacos, and they give 24 cents of every one sold to world hunger. They then invite you, the customer, to donate 24 cents to provide another meal.

The Samuelsons have expanded this concept to include rice bowl salads, quesadillas and nachos. For every one you enjoy, an additional 24 cents are used to feed starving children. All the donated meals are hand-packed at their annual hand-packed events by customers like me or other volunteers. After being packed, the meals are shipped to more than 70 countries and arrive at feeding centers, CarePoints, orphanages, schools and refugee camps. Kids come from all over to enjoy these life-saving meals at their local feeding centers, made possible by the customers like Janis and me.

I am pleased to tell you they also have a catering service that feeds people at office meetings, parties, and weddings, and these events also provide meals to feed hungry children. It’s a wonderful concept and the Samuelsons are to be commended for their vision and love for their fellow man. For more information about Tacos 4 Life, visit www.tacos4life.com.

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(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)