Can churches do anything to help the issue of hunger? Um, duh?
The truth is, the poor in the US are better off than the poor in most low-income countries specifically because the churches do so much. Philadelphia churches spend over $24 million on feeding the hungry every year, for one example.
What can churches do, then? Well, the first is obvious: feed the hungry. Churches are excellent centers for food aid distribution; they usually have kitchens, volunteers, and donors. They have dinners to which they can invite people (my church has a standing invitation to anyone who's hungry to our Wednesday dinner, and they come). They can run food pantries and/or soup kitchens. And they do, frequently.
But if you hadn't noticed yet, I'm more interested in development than aid. What can churches do there? Some may disagree with me, but I say churches should get active -- yes, I mean politically active. Christians should take issues they think are serious to their representatives at all levels of government (and any church that doesn't think poverty and hunger are serious should read the Bible a bit closer). Not as churches, per se, but as individuals. I want churches to encourage people to vote and advocate for issues of Biblical import, and hunger is one.
Maybe I'm asking a lot, but I think it's not too much to ask.
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Dr. Tony Evan's church does more. They train the poor to work, to get jobs and keep jobs and then manage the money that they make better. I haven't done this but you could look up the urban alternative or google Dr. Tony Evans
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