David Beasley Addresses Crowd at Chamber’s Annual Membership Luncheon

The Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Membership Luncheon on Thursday, September 9th. Former Gov. David Beasley presented to the group about his efforts to fight world hunger as Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program.  “People say congratulations on the Nobel Peace Prize,” Beasley said. “I say well, I got those values from Florence, Darlington, Lamar, Society Hill, home.”  Beasley shared statistics about the organization’s work.  “We feed about 120 million people on any given day, week or month,” Beasley said.  He said more than 270 million people worldwide don’t know where their next meal will come from. 41 million are approaching famine. He said those numbers have risen in recent years due in part to COVID-19 and climate extremes.  “We’re out there and we see more drought, more flooding,” Beasley said. “It’s changing out there and poor people cannot wait.”

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