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None of the megaevents of the past year and a half have reversed the virulent course of world hunger. Still, they have made some small inroads. Revenues from Live Aid, British Pop Star Bob Geldof's celebrity-stacked, bicontinental hunger concert, combined with the money raised by USA for Africa (which produced We Are the World and is the parent organization of Hands), total more than $140 million. Working with various relief groups, the Geldof organization has already shipped more than 100,000 metric tons of supplies to Africa. Proceeds from Hands, which optimistic organizers estimate could reach | about $50 million, will be distributed in a similar manner on the domestic front, with funds going to grass-roots food, housing and jobs organizations.
Hands Across America was but one of two megathons designed to open hearts and pocketbooks on Sunday. Four hours before Hands was to link up, Omar Khalifa, 29, a Sudanese runner, was to light a giant flame outside the United Nations in New York City and start up the grand finale of another Geldof megaevent, called Sport Aid and co-sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), to raise funds for Africa's hungry. In 266 cities from Ouagadougou to Bangkok and beyond, up to 20 million people were to participate in synchronized racing and sporting events.
In spite of the outpouring of interest in Sport Aid and Hands, some megathon organizers are worried about "compassion overload," a syndrome supposedly caused by the recent spate of celebrity-packed events. Says Peter J. Davies, president of InterAction, a coalition of 112 relief and development agencies: "One of our concerns now is donor fatigue. People believe they have done their thing."
One prominent celebrity who was invited but had not answered requests to participate in the festivities spoke out on the issue of hunger in America last week. Defending his plans for continued cutbacks in federal funding for social programs, Ronald Reagan said, "I don't believe that there is anyone going hungry in America by reason of denial or lack of ability to feed them; it is by people not knowing where or how to get this help."
Given the timing, Reagan's remarks on hunger sounded a bit Scrooge-like. In a last-minute effort to dispel that image, the President belatedly decided to allow the human chain to snake through the White House grounds and to join in himself. "This house," said Reagan, "belongs to all the people and is a symbol of the American dream." But for obvious security reasons, not "all the people" will be permitted in the White House segment of the line--only Secret Service agents, White House personnel and families and accredited journalists.