Category Archives: International

#F*ckThePoor Campaign: Put your money where your mouth is

Anti-Poverty Programs, International, Organizations, Related topics

Yes, this sounds bad; however, this campaign is a great example of how society hinders itself from solving a problem that they are concerned about. On April 7th, 2014, The Pilion Trust Charity asked Londoners to “put their money where their mouths are” by filming their reactions to a man wearing a “F*ck the poor” sign. The video on their blog shows that the Londoners weren’t fans of the statement. However, when the man flipped his sign over to read “Help the poor” and held a donations cup, he was completely ignored by the public. This controversial campaign is the wake up call that not only London society needs, but that all societies dealing with poverty need to be aware of. Their campaign is message is: “We know you care. Please care enough to give”.  What’s the point in caring and being offended by a sign that says “F*ck the poor” if they are doing just that when ignoring a sign that wants to help? We are part of the problem and that is why is it still prevalent today.

Share this campaign and open eyes, because deep down, we all do care and that should be enough motivation to give. Here’s the link to the Pilion Trust’s Blog with the video: http://piliontrust.com.

Global Awareness

Homelessness, International, Organizations, Poverty

Throughout the course of the semester we have learned a lot about homelessness within the United States. But last week, we had a speaker who broke down that wall and opened our eyes to poverty on a worldwide scale. ABC’s and Rice is an organization that raises global awareness of poverty. They are based in Cambodia where they educate young children and give them a bags of rice at the end of each week to help feed their families.

Children around the world are not as priveledged as many children that we see around us. Something that really stuck out to me was that children in other countries often do not go to work becuase their parents cannot afford it. This sounds like a common reason but it was not for the reasons I initially thought. These children do not go to school because their parents need them to work or else their family cannot survive. So if these children were to go to school, not only would their parents not be able to afford it, they would also not be able to afford food which they survive on.

Our guest speaker, Tammy Durrand told us that this was her main objective when starting this organization. She wanted to be able to feed and educate young children to make a lasting impact in their lives. This really opened my eyes because this is often something that we do not think about. Tammy opened our eyes to child poverty on a global scale and this is something that really stuck with me. My plan is to become a teacher, so hearing about the struggles these chidren are enduring on a daily basis was very hard. The goal of the organization is to raise awareness so this is something that we all can do to help. We may not be able to go to Cambodia or start our own organization but we can help existing ones by spreading awareness and encouraging people to give to those who need it most.

To make a donation to ABC’s and Rice or explore their website, click the link below:

DSC00529http://abcsandrice.webs.com/donate.htm

German Food Banks Struggle with Growing Demand

Hunger, International, News link

News clip from Der Spiegel Online: “Food banks and soup kitchens in many German cities are having trouble keeping up with growing demand. Some are now abandoning their free food models in their efforts to continue helping the needy.”  More need plus fewer charitable and public donations make it hard for food banks to cover their costs – even though they are staffed mostly by volunteers.  Read more HERE.