# 2164 - 1985 22c Help End Hunger

U.S. #2164
1985 22¢ Help End Hunger 

• Second US stamp that brought attention to the concerns of hunger
• The result of a massive letter-writing campaign and efforts of a Texas Congressman

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Value:  22¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue:  October 15, 1985
First Day City:  Washington, D.C.
Quantity Issued:  120,000,000
Printed by:  American Bank Note Company
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 50 in sheets of 200
Perforations:  11

Why the stamp was issued:  This issue calls attention to the need for all Americans to aid in ending hunger in our country as well as around the world.  Only one stamp before it had been committed to the same cause, the 1963 Food for Peace stamp (#1231).

Over the years, people had suggested another stamp addressing world hunger.  One of the driving forces behind he creation of the 1985 Help End Hunger stamp was Phyllis AlRoy, a volunteer with The Hunger Project.  In 1983, she sent a letter to the postmaster general stating that she had 108,000 signatures from Americans wanting such a stamp.  She sent similar letters to 33 other groups, who also sent letters to the USPS calling for the same thing.  Texas Representative and chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger Mickey Leland threw his full support behind the stamp and managed to secure its creation.

About the stamp design:  Jerry Pinkney, who had previously designed many of the Black Heritage stamps, illustrated the Help End Hunger issue.  After submitting his original design, the USPS asked for the three people it pictured to be hungrier and more emaciated, to stress the seriousness of hunger. 

First Day City:  The First Day ceremony for this stamp was held at the Rayburn House of Representatives office building in Washington, DC.  Among the speakers was Congressman Leland, who said he would use one of the stamps on a letter to President Reagan pressing him to take action to fight hunger in the US and worldwide.  Leland also praised Pinkney for creating a design that showed “hunger is a disgrace to our common humanity.  When it results from government policies, it is intolerable.”  As the stamp was issued, the assembled crowd sand “We Are the World.”

Unusual fact about this stamp:  AlRoy pressed the USPS to make this a “special” stamp, meaning it would be available in greater quantities for a longer period time, similar to Christmas and Love stamps.  However, the USPS never took that action.

History the stamp represents:  In 1988, the International Fund for Agricultural Development was the U.N.’s newest specialized agency.  Created by the World Fund Conference, it has a strategy based on a new perception of the causes of hunger.  This theory sees starvation and malnutrition as resulting not just from lack of food, but essentially, from poverty - poverty so dire that food can neither be purchased nor produced.  Even the world’s poorest farmers and fishermen know how to farm and fish.  What they lack is the means to do so effectively.  Even a little money can trigger an economic chain-reaction with far-reaching effects.  This is what the I.F.A.D. hopes to accomplish with projects built around people, their skills, and their aspirations.