Almost half the population of Australia are starving in West Africa, struck by one of the worst droughts in their history, leading to a devastating famine. Those of you who are parents; can you imagine the helplessness and pain if you were unable to feed your own child but had to watch him or her slowly starve to death?

Unicef are asking restaurants to help by persuading their generous diners to give a tiny $2 donation added on to their meal bill. That small amount will provide a child suffering malnutrition with three therapeutic meals that may be the difference between life and death. For the less than the price of a cup of coffee.

The way to do it is simple; restaurants who sign up for the Bread For Good Campaign simply ask their diners to: contribute $2 for the bread (or olives or whatever) they order. Of course they can donate more if they want.

The campaign was started two years ago, but for the first time, Queensland restaurants are being asked to join Sydney luminaries such as Aria Sydney, Quay and Rockpool  (for the full list click here) from this Friday and continuing through the month of September. The money raised will go to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to help 2 million children facing starvation in Africa at one of their feeding centres.

You can make a tremendous difference in the lives of children in Africa. I know how generous Queenslanders are, so I would love to see as many restaurants, cafes, bakeries, coffee shops sign up, whether or not you appeared in the 2012 guide.

I must give a big shout out to Brent’s restaurant in Toowong, and Black Coffee Lyrics in Surfers Paradise who both responded almost instantly to the email many restaurants would have received today by signing up. Here’s what you can do to help. And please don’t hesitate to contact Bread for Good directly or me if you prefer if you need any questions answered.

And I leave you with a sobering thought-in the time that it’s taken me to write this post (about 25 minutes) 4 children have died.

What your restaurant can do to help

1. Register your restaurant here.
2. Access the supporting materials and spread the word.
3. Encourage customers to donate $2 or more when ordering bread.
4. Collect and submit your patron’s donations to save lives.

For every $2 that you collect UNICEF can feed a hungry child for one day.

Show your customers that you care and join Bread for Good! We hope that with the support of restaurateurs like you, together we can make a tremendous difference.