Even amid the intense focus on the presidential election, we cannot forget the plight of starving children in Gaza and other war zones. We cannot let these children in need fall off the news radar. Sadly, they do all too often. As history reminds us, the presidential election can actually draw attention to the child hunger crisis.

During the 1948 campaign, both presidential candidates took time to feed the world’s hungry children. President Harry Truman and Gov. Thomas Dewey of New York supported the United Nations Crusade for Children.

Numerous charities benefited from the appeal, including UNICEF and Catholic Relief Services. This was just three years after World War II and hunger still ravaged the devastated countries. It takes years, at minimum, for a country to recover from hunger caused by war.

Truman endorsed the Crusade for Children and hosted a kickoff event at the White House. The New York Times published a photo of Truman speaking with kids including actress Margaret O’Brien, who was a spokesperson for the crusade. My mother recalled seeing Margaret at a Crusade for Children event in Washington, D.C.

Republican presidential candidate Dewey hosted a lawn party in Albany, New York to raise funds for the Crusade for Children. The New York Times reported that children dressed in costumes of the countries that would benefit from the donations.

A future president, Dwight Eisenhower, was also a spokesperson for the Crusade for Children.

Eisenhower warned that children in Europe were living an “animal-like level of existence, struggling each day for any kind of scrap that will keep them alive.” Ike asked how could we expect hungry children “to develop the ideas and the ideals that in the future will bring them to be apostles of peace?”

The Crusade for Children in 1948, as well as many other charity events, put the spotlight on hunger. That same election year the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe began with food assistance, including child nutrition.

Food trains ran across the United States, sponsored by Church World Service and other charities, collecting more donations for overseas relief. The famous C.A.R.E. packages of food were sold in the United States and these would be sent to hungry families overseas.

Having the presidential candidates in 1948 take action to feed hungry children was important to the cause.

This year’s presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, could likewise take action against child hunger. They can advocate for feeding the starving children in war-torn Sudan, where famine has been declared.

The candidates can rally action to feed hungry children in Gaza, Yemen, D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi and other areas in desperate need. Haiti is another country where there is extreme hunger, which has forced families into desperation. More funding is needed for the relief of Haiti.

Wars and climate change have put millions of kids on the brink of starvation. As the world’s most powerful country, we must lead the effort to rescue them.

Although everyone has the presidential election on their mind, we must still keep focused on feeding the hungry. Children are most vulnerable to deadly malnutrition around the globe and we must take action to save them.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the NY Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, History News Network, Cleveland Plain Dealer and many other news outlets.