This Wednesday: “One Love — We Get to Share It”
February 6th, 2008 by Progressive Wednesday
The facts and only the cold hard facts:
- According to the United Nations, “about 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes.”
- 36.9 million Americans live in poverty, and that’s more than the population of California. 13 million of those Americans are children, and that’s more than the populations of New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New Mexico combined.
- A study conducted by Tufts University indicates that “mild under-nutrition experienced by young children … may lead to reductions in physical growth and affect brain development.”
So let’s do something from the relatively wealthy comfort of our computers.
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Below you’ll find a video of Bono, the front man for the band of bands, U2. In case you weren’t aware, this Nobel Peace Prize nominee (2003, 2005, 2006) has dedicated a huge chunk of his life battling poverty throughout the world. A large portion of his efforts has to do with eradicating so-called “third world” debt, and the organization he founded with Bobby Shriver, DATA, recently joined forces with 10 other groups to form the ONE Campaign, whose motto is “The Campaign to Make Poverty History.” ONE, we ought to mention, is a grassroots organization partially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
So we’ve found a video of Bono speaking about AIDS, poverty, and other pandemic diseases at the 2008 World Economic Forum. We find his words, though at times critical of the Western world, ultimately inspiring, as they were the impetus behind this week’s Wednesday. We hope you have a similar reaction to his words of innocence and experience.
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Okay, I’ve got to say it: this is the weirdest way to combat poverty that I’ve ever seen, but it’s fascinating and effective nonetheless.
Here’s how the site works: you take a vocabulary quiz, and for each correct answer you give, “20 grains of rice” are donated to poor people through the United Nations World Food Program. You might be thinking: “20 grains of rice? Seriously guys? That’s it?” Well, consider this, buckaroo: in the four months of Free Rice’s existence, “the site’s creator has given over $250,000 to the [World Food Program].” Keep this in mind, as well: that’s one billion grains of rice. And this sucker is a non-profit raising money through advertising.
So, the benefit here is twofold: you increase your vocabulary, which can only help you at work, or help you land a job, or help you ace the SAT or GRE; you donate food without doing much more than exercising your brain. (Just click the logo above to start playing this game that helps save lives.)
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Okay, people. This one’s easy as a fried egg given one spatula flip. All you’ve got to do is give two clicks. First, click this sentence to be taken to the Hunger Site (you can read more about this organization here). Then click the button that reads “Click Here to Give — it’s FREE!” on that page. There — you’ve just help feed those suffering in poverty you generous little devil you. According to the site, over the past seven years “more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food.”
This website is run by the good folks over at Charity USA, a for-profit organization that funds health care, animal, literacy, and ecological reform through advertising. If you purchase gear, you can help raise even more of the green. We’ve previously written about the Rainforest Site, Breast Cancer Site, and Literacy Site, and trust us when we say that we’ve researched the hell out of this, vetted it more than a Vice Presidential candidate, and it’s completely legit.
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