New Yorkers expecting tony shops on the ground floor of Riverhouse, a new high-rise condominium with views of the Statue of Liberty, will instead find the Action Center to End World Hunger, a first-of-its-kind museum designed to teach children why world hunger exists and what they can do about it. The center, opening October 16, was created by global relief organization Mercy Corps after Battery Park City offered to rent the space for $1 per year for 60 years through its public amenity program and pledged $1.25 million in additional support.
Other city organizations supporting the center—whose construction costs total some $5.4 million—include the Lower Manhattan Development Corporations ($1 million grant), the New York City Council ($250,000), and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office ($500,000). The center has also received funding from private sources.
At the center’s information kiosks and displays, students, parents, and teachers can learn about climate change in Niger, Indonesia’s urban slums, the conflict in Afghanistan, and land rights in Guatamala, among other pressing issues. They can also choose to “take action” for one minute, one hour, one day, one month, or one lifetime; they then receive a menu of actions that includes signing a fair-trade petition, volunteering at a local hunger organization, or mentoring an aspiring entrepreneur.
Come next summer, children in Portland, Ore., can pitch in, too: Mercy Corps will open a companion center (the Mercy Corps Action Center) in its new global headquarters. And no, parents won’t have to drag their kids to the centers, assures Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer.
“Young people today want to make a difference in the world and don’t take no for an answer,” Keny-Guyer says. “But they don’t have the tools to translate that eagerness into action. We want to change that by offering them compelling information and clear actions that will empower them.”
Read more stories by Jennifer Roberts.