Project Tanzania was an ongoing effort to help people in the East African nation of Tanzania overcome the effects of hunger, drought and poverty.

Capitol Broadcasting Company President Jim Goodmon was deeply moved by the suffering of many Africans affected by the massive drought in the early 1980s. So in 1985 he helped organize a fact-finding trip to locate an area whose citizens wanted assistance in becoming more self-sufficient. The rural Shinyanga Region was selected and “Project Tanzania” was born.

WRAL-TV produced an hour-long documentary that introduced North Carolinians to the situation and identified ways to help Tanzanians help themselves. Citizens responded with generosity and compassion, funding both a Reforestation Program and a Scholarship Program. Educational supplies, medical supplies and essential healthcare materials were donated by North Carolina school children; the supplies were sent directly to schools and clinics in the rural villages of the region.

Project Tanzania received national recognition, including The World Hunger Award, the National Education Association Award for the Advancement of Learning through Broadcasting, a Presidential Citation for Private Sector Initiatives and the International Understanding Award from the North Carolina Center for International Understanding.