Recently BzzAgent.com, a group I am affliated with , made me aware of an International campaign to end poverty.
This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Before you read any further let me put a disclaimer out there. My 20's were rough. I have no problems sharing my testimony because I went through it for a reason, that being said, let me share.
In 2006 I found myself in a bad relationship with someone who was on drugs, I had recently been laid off from work, I had no car because the one I did have broke and I had no money to fix it, my daughter, Alexis, lived with me at that time, times were rough. When I couldn't make rent, we were left with no where to go. (My daughter and I could have gone many places probably but I was a dumb 20ish year old girl).
For about a week we stayed in a less than nice hotel room with nothing more to eat than some cheap lunchmeat and bread and Lexi got dry cereal when she got up in the morning. If you have never had this happen to you, you are blessed but if you have, you know the heartbreak of not knowing how you are going to feed your child.
We ended up at the Salvation Army Women's and Children's Program and it changed my life.
What is Extreme Poverty?
When we say ‘extreme' poverty we mean the poorest people in the world. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.25 per day.
And right now, 1.4 billion people in our world live in extreme poverty. Live Below the Line believes that we have an obligation to reduce that number dramatically.
(taken directly from Live Below The Line website)
The challenge?
Spend 5 days feeding yourself with $1.50 a day – the U.S. equivalent of the extreme poverty line.
The reason?
To give a glimpse into the lives of 1.4 billion people who have no choice but to live below the line every day – and who have to make $1.50 cover a lot more than food…
Live Below the Line is an initiative of the Global Poverty Project, an education and campaigning organization whose mission is to increase the number and effectiveness of people taking action against extreme poverty.
The Global Poverty Project educates and activates citizens to become effectively engaged in the movement to end extreme poverty, and is best known for its world-class multimedia presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons. This feature presentation has been seen by over 100,000 people since 2009 and is delivered in schools, businesses and communities around the globe.
We're passionate about equipping people to make a real difference in fighting poverty, and so we focus on connecting people up to the organizations and issues that have the biggest impact. We run Live Below the Line because we think that to really fight poverty, we've got to try to understand it – and the challenge provides a glimpse of what it is like to live on $1.50/day – a challenge that is faced by 1.4 billion people in our world today.
We've teamed up with some of the best U.S. charities that fight extreme poverty around the world and have provided you with the opportunity to support their work through personal sponsorship as you undertake Live Below the Line.
In 2012, Live Below the Line iis running in the U.S., UK, and Australia simultaneously, with more than 20,000 people spending 5 days living below the line.
Across three continents, people will join the movement to tackle extreme poverty - join us.
If you want to donate click here
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