Canadians Are Living below the Line So Others May Rise above It | Be Korea-savvy

Canadians Are Living below the Line So Others May Rise above It


 

The Live Below the Line campaign encourages Canadians to eat and drink on $1.75 a day for five days while raising awareness and funds to eradicate extreme poverty (image: Live Below The Line/ BusinessWire)

The Live Below the Line campaign encourages Canadians to eat and drink on $1.75 a day for five days while raising awareness and funds to eradicate extreme poverty (image: Live Below The Line/ BusinessWire)

TORONTO, April 7, 2014 (Korea Bizwire)–The second Canadian Live Below the Line campaign, presented by the  Micronutrient Initiative, kicks off in three weeks. From April 28 to May  2, 2014, participants will spend only $1.75 per day on all food and  drink, the Canadian equivalent of the extreme poverty line. In addition  to raising awareness and sparking a national dialogue to change the way  Canadians think about extreme poverty, the challenge will raise funds  for eight Canadian partner organizations that work to end extreme  poverty including Opportunity  International, Raising  the Village and Ve’ahavta.

From coast to coast, hundreds of Canadians have already joined the  challenge with their classmates, colleagues and families. Participants  are encouraged to sign up in groups to support one another, pool  resources and conduct group grocery shopping trips.

“Spending only $1.75 per day on food and drink is a difficult challenge  but one that has a huge impact,” says Odette Hutchings, Canadian  Campaign Manager, Live Below the Line. “It’s about providing a glimpse  into the difficult choices approximately 1.2 billion people must make on  a daily basis just to survive, and supporting Canadian organizations  directly combating extreme poverty. We’re calling all Canadians to join  us in the challenge, sign up, donate and support – together we can make  a huge difference!”

Several celebrities have stepped up to support the Live Below the Line  initiative – actress Bridget Moynahan, actor Ennis Esmer, and actress  Naomi Snieckus, have all signed on to take the five-day challenge.

“My family is taking the Live Below Line challenge again so we can raise  more funds to help end extreme poverty and remind ourselves how  incredibly fortunate we are,” says past Live Below the Line participant  Lee Hayes. “Pooling our money and feeding a family of five on just under  $45 was extremely difficult but also illuminating – it sparked a lot of  conversation around the dinner table that I know spilled into our kids’  school and our workplaces. It was an experience none of us will ever  forget.”

Global Poverty – The Facts

  • It is estimated that 1.2 billion people worldwide currently live in  extreme poverty, which in Canada would equate to living on $1.75 per  day for all needs.
  • 923 million people worldwide are undernourished, and there are more  than 9 million deaths related to hunger each year.
  • Malnutrition reduces a nation’s economic advancement by at least 8%  because of direct productivity losses, losses via poorer cognition,  and losses via reduced schooling
  • Poor nutrition is an underlying cause of nearly half (45%) of deaths  in children under five – 3.1 million children each year.
  • The good news: the incidence of extreme poverty has decreased by more  than 50 per cent over the past 30 years – from 52 per cent of the  world’s population in 1981, to 22 per cent in 2008.

To register and for more information about Live Below the Line, visit www.livebelowtheline.ca.  Join the Live Below the Line community on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lblca),  Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/lblca,  #belowtheline), and Instagram (http://instagram.com/lblca).

About Live Below the Line Live Below the Line is a campaign  created by the Global Poverty Project which challenges people to Live  Below the Line for five days, raising funds for and awareness of the 1.2  billion people who live below the line every day. Live Below the Line  believes that to tackle extreme poverty, we must first understand it.  Live Below the Line gives participants a unique glimpse into the lives  of those living in extreme poverty. www.livebelowtheline.ca

The Global Poverty Project The Global Poverty Project is an  international education and campaigning organization with the vision of  a world without extreme poverty by 2030. The Global Poverty Project  works to increase the number and effectiveness of people taking action  to end extreme poverty. Most recently, the Global Poverty Project ran  the second Global Citizen Festival in Central Park in New York City,  headlined by Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys. This festival was attended  by 60,000 people, and resulted in 25 policy and financial commitments  being made towards ending extreme poverty by 2030. www.globalpovertyproject.com

The Micronutrient Initiative The Micronutrient Initiative  (MI) is the leading organization working to eliminate vitamin and  mineral or micronutrient deficiencies in the world’s most vulnerable  populations. MI is internationally acclaimed for its ability to deliver  innovative, low-cost, community-based solutions to nutrition-based  problems in the developing world. http://www.micronutrientinitiative.org

Source: Live Below the Line, the Global Poverty Project & the Micronutrient Initiative (via BusinessWire)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>