That’s a pretty sensational title; you don’t have to tell me that. But unlike most “gotcha!” blog titles, this one happens to be true.

I’ve been feeling pretty sick about my fascination with The Hunger Games, a book series (and soon to be film series) about a bunch of starving kids who have to fight to the death. It’s easy to tell ourselves that it’s okay for us to be obsessed with such a dark subject because it’s just fiction, but in Somalia right now, little kids are really dying every day from the simple lack of food and water. One in ten are dying every 11 weeks, and researchers say that by November, 10% of all Somali kids will be gone.

These devastating numbers are much harder to think about than fiction—not only because they are real, but because we also feel powerless to do anything about it. What can we do, us Westerners halfway around the world? Sure, we have plenty of our own problems, our government is practically imploding our support services, and our middle class is disappearing as many of us must choose between food and utility payments. But most of us are not starving like these children—and most of us can help, even if only a tiny bit.

Here are a few things you can do for Somali children (as well as other citizens) right now:

Spread the word about the famine. As many people are pointing out, we know much more about stupid topics and trends than we do about this devastation as a whole. Please post this article (or any other relevant one you run across) to your Facebook page, your blog, or anywhere else people will see it. Call or text a few people about it if you can. Just do whatever you can to help spread the word.

Send money to CARE or another organization you trust. Did you know that $175 is all it takes to save an entire family from starvation? This is a lot to some people (myself included), but what if you started a collection at school or work, or even among your family members? You could raise this in no time. Click here to give if you can today, or click here to see a list of many other organizations that are helping out.

Volunteer. Visit the same page above and see which of these organizations might need your help in a physical sense. Maybe you could help make aid packages, or phonebank for donors. See if there is a relief agency in your area and get involved; many times you can even phonebank from home.

Fight hunger at home. Okay, this isn’t going to help people in Somalia, but if you don’t have money but you do have an extra can of green beans or an unopened jar of peanut butter, you could donate it to your local food pantry and help save a life near you. Food pantries are running out of food more than ever lately due to the poor economy and they can use all the help they can get.