Blog Action Day: Bloggers Unite Against Poverty and How You Can Help

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s something big going on in the blogosphere.  Today is Blog Action Day, and bloggers everywhere are using their blogs to bring awareness of poverty in the world.

Poverty is a huge problem, from inside the United States to the other side of the world in Africa.  No matter where you go, you can’t escape the problem of poverty.

Though we can disagree about the causes and solutions of poverty in America and abroad, it’s hard to argue with the actual statistics regarding poverty around the world.

From GlobalIssues.org:

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.^{Source 1}

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According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”^{Source 4}

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Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

If current trends continue, the Millennium Development Goals target of halving the proportion of underweight children will be missed by 30 million children, largely because of slow progress in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. 5

It breaks my heart to think of so many living in poverty, especially children. I’ve lived on what is considered to be a lower income in the United States, yet I am incredibly wealthy compared to those truly living on nothing.

Though I wish I could do a lot to help those living in poverty, I am only one person.  Yet if we band together, we can make a difference.  Therefore, I am going to post an Amazon link to my very favorite book on Frugality:  The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn.

I’m going to encourage you, my readers, to buy this book, or anything else from Amazon by clicking through THIS LINK today.  If you shop through this link, I get a small commission, and I will be donating all commissions from Amazon today to Project Peanut Butter.

Project Peanut Butter is an organization brought to my attention by Colleen of Classy Mommy.  The organization provides a peanut butter based therapeutic feeding program to malnourished children in Malawi and Sierra Leone.

Because the “Ready to Use Therapeutic Food” is peanut butter based, it is inexpensive to produce, yet very effective in giving children the protein they need.  For more information on Project Peanut Butter, see their About Page.

I’m also excited to announce that Walmart will be matching donations from this and other Eleven Moms websites that are participating in Blog Action Day. So any commission earned on Amazon purchases through my link today will be matched, and all proceeds will be donated to Project Peanut Butter.

Regardless of whether you decide to help by making a purchase through my Amazon link or not, please consider what you can do to make a difference, however small, on the problem of poverty.

Whether you make a conscious effort to reduce waste, make donations to a charitable organization, or give a sandwich to a hungry man on the street, every little bit adds up.  If we all make an effort, we can make a real impact on the problem of poverty throughout the world.

Be sure to visit the Eleven Moms blogs to see what other moms are doing to raise awareness of poverty.

Other bloggers participating in Blog Action Day include:

• Moolanomy
• My Two Dollars
• One Caveman’s Financial Journey
• Cash Money Life
• Military Finance
  
• Gather Little by Little
• The Good Human
• Plonkee Money
• Bella Casa
• Free From Broke
• Bible Money Matters
• Frugal Upstate
• Skimbaco Lifestyle
• Deal Seeking Mom
• From Dates to Diapers
• Keeping the Kingdom First
• Common Sense with Money
• Green Your Decor
• Jessica Knows
• Classy Mommy
• Mrs. Micah
• Debt Kid

Photo by khym54.

Tagged as: Poverty