Its Blog action day today and the blogosphere is spreading the word to fight poverty and hunger to raise the basic living standards of the world. As you read this article on your expensive computer, sipping a hot coffee, in your comfortable air conditioned room – millions of people are living in poverty and are wondering if there will be anything for dinner tonight.
I point out some easy ways in which you can help fight poverty and hunger, all while sitting in front of your computer in the comfort of your home or office.
Click the Yellow Button, Its Easy
This site encourages you to click, but its not spam. The Hunger Site is a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world’s hungry. When you click their big yellow button, they display ads from site sponsors and 100% of the money earned from these advertisers goes to charity partners, who fund programs to provide food to the hungry. They claim that around 220,000 people visit the site everyday to click the yellow “Click Here to Give” button and to date more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food. I clicked it too…
Join the ONE, Echo your voice
ONE is an advocacy and campaigning organization supported by more than 2 million people where the common people like you and me unite against extreme poverty. ONE encourages you to take action as a ONE member and they will alert you when your voice will have the greatest impact, to be heard by world leaders and encourage them to adopt policies to save millions of lives. Join ONE because each ONE of us can make a difference and by raising our voices together as ONE, we can change the world. Wear the white band and show your support for the ONE Campaign.
Stand Up, the world will join you
Stand Up Against Poverty is a global movement to end poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Last year, 43.7 million people joined Stand Up worldwide, setting a new world record. This year, they ask you to Stand Up and Take Action on October 17-19, to ensure governments worldwide hear our demands to end poverty and inequality. Create your event, gather everyone together and ask everyone to Stand Up together for 1 minute, while capturing videos, photos, and audio from your event.
Smart People Can Donate Free Rice
If you are the owner of a witty brain and a clicky mouse, then visit the Free Rice site to participate in trivial puzzles. If you get it right, you get a harder question. If you get it wrong, you get an easier question. For each answer you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. They claim to have donated over 46 billion grains to date. Remember how Firefox celebrated their 500 million downloads by raising 500 million grains of rice in one day to help feed the world’s poor.
Give a Micro-Loan, Make Someone Happy
Every $25 can make a difference! I recently stumbled across Kiva, which claims to be the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, letting you lend money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. Browse entrepreneur profiles and make a loan, promote economic independence and improve their life. They will pay you back, when you can relend to someone else in need. Kiva’s microfinance partners monitor the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur, while provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success. You can start by donating money as low as $25! You can form a lending team and encourage your readers to join and fund campaigns as a team. To date, Kiva has enabled lenders to send over $46 million to the working poor around the world.
There are many more great charities and generous organizations funding them, which contribute to reducing poverty around us. I motivate you to check out these 30 Simple Ways to Battle Poverty With Technology.
Still wondering what can One person do? Check this video