2 dollar difference

Some good ideas to help others

2dollardifference — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:35:39 +0000

Here is useful information about things we can do to help others that don’t depend on money. Any other ideas of your own?

What do others spend a day?

2dollardifference — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:53:52 +0000

Contrast the idea of spending $2 a day with the amounts this article describes for high income and middle/low income folks: $145 and $59, respectively. And that’s up from last year…

Any thoughts?

Good foods at low cost

2dollardifference — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:00:30 +0000

FYI, here is a link to an article that lists healthy foods often available at a low cost.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_cheapskate/58/50-healthy-foods-for-under-1-a-pound.html

End hunger

2dollardifference — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:17:24 +0000

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is making a push to stop hunger for the 1 billion people who remain chronically hungry. Go to this site, learn more, and sign the petition: Something has to be done to end hunger…you can help.

Thank you.

P.S. And how did I learn about this movement? From this article.

Happy Earth Day!

2dollardifference — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:12:35 +0000

The Earth provides us with our resources to survive–water, air, food. This could be a good time to pay attention to those gifts.

By eating for $2-a-day for a week, we open ourselves to new experiences. When the food we eat is different than usual, i.e. costs less, we interact with its purchase, preparation, eating, in new ways. And we gain insight from that experience. We may realize that we could change our regular eating habits to be even friendlier to the Earth and to our neighbors. Then we can use the savings that we have made to contribute to an organization dedicated to making sure that others have the food that they need.

Why not read through the ideas available on this site and consider what insights you might have if you give the difference to make a difference?

An announcement from Two Dollar Challenge

2dollardifference — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:28:01 +0000

The Two Dollar Challenge (TDC) is an organization made up almost entirely of students who are working to bring the realities of poverty into the public eye and find solutions to issues we are passionate about. Nearly half of the World’s population lives on $2 per day. For one week we’re asking college students to join them.

This Challenge Week is an experience designed to offer students a glimpse of how the other half of the world lives. Participants are presented with the challenge of living on $2 a day for five days while following a number of other rules. Throughout this week students are able to raise both awareness about global poverty and funds to direct towards their own initiative. Students are empowered through the funds they raise and the networks they build with others who share in the experience.

During the month of April (from April 3 to April 30, 2010), college students across the country will participate in our initiative, directing Challenge Week on their respective campuses. We encourage groups to use the TDC towards those issues that interest them and their community most. This year we have chosen to start a Preferred Partners Program in an effort to provide a stronger connection between energetic students and well-established organizations that can further the impact of our combined work towards poverty reduction. Our leading focus is on microfinance and our microfinance partner of choice, Opportunity International. Founded in 1971, Opportunity International provides small business loans, savings, insurance and training to over a million people working their way out of poverty in the developing world. Clients in 27 countries use these financial services to start or expand a business, provide for their families, create jobs for their neighbors and build a safety net for the future.

Through our partnership with Opportunity International, TDC will be able to provide the education, awareness and a true sense of impact for those who choose to participate in the initiative. We, as student leaders, can become effective agents of change by raising funds for established NGOs, like Opportunity International, who have a successful track record in moving their clients out of poverty. While the University of Mary Washington campus and several other campuses across the nation have chosen to raise funds for Opportunity International, we want to stress that the TDC is a tool that can effectively support efforts outside of microfinance. This movement is meant to engage students in the fight against global poverty, to inspire students to take action, and to empower students with the skills and resources they need to make an effective difference.

If you are interested in joining the TDC check out our newly designed homepage, www.twodollarchallenge.org, to learn more. Once you register you can download the Challenge Week Sourcebook. If you have questions or thoughts, feel free to send the team an email. You can also contact Erin Kelly, our National President, directly by phone or text at (804) 654-1487. We value your insights and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, Two Dollar Challenge

Haiti

2dollardifference — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:02:06 +0000

As more news comes of the horrific earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, 12 January 2010, we encourage all to give what they can to relief efforts. The people of Haiti were in need before; now they are beyond desperate.

Please consider this suggestion that appeared on facebook yesterday from someone closely tied to Haiti:

“…to all who want to help Haiti, consider this project: http://2dollardifference.com shared with a school group, or book club, or church group. The money you don’t spend on food you can give to a Haiti help… organization, such as the Colorado Haiti Project (www.coloradohaitiproject.org) and your lives will be changed and your heart turned toward the lives of our sisters and brothers in Haiti.”

They need our help. Again, please give what you can.

Here are other organizations that you might consider when sending aid for Haiti:

Episcopal Relief and Development

Colorado Haiti Project

Care

Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)

American Red Cross

Partners in Health

experience–We Can Live with Less

2dollardifference — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:50:09 +0000

A group of about ten people at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado read Eyes of the Heart by Jean-Bertrand Aristide in June 2009 and were moved by the plight of the people in Haiti. We realized that many in the world live with substantially fewer resources than we have access to here in the USA. Wanting to experience the idea of “living with less” in a meaningful, though admittedly partial way, we proposed to “eat for a week with the food that $2/day will buy.” After much discussion we proposed a week with alternatives for folks to choose from so “we can live with less” as a first step in both raising our awareness of how others live, how we might use what we have to be of service, and how we might live with less more often.

A group of seven of us participated in the week long event. Our experiences are documented at We Can Live With Less. Each person reflected and posted comments. Our action after the week-long experience was to donate $520, our savings while eating for less, to the Colorado Haiti Project.

We wish you insights as you try this very potent experience. And don’t forget…give the difference!

food for thought–Senge, et al

2dollardifference — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:55:13 +0000

” ‘Observe, observe, observe’–become one with the world; ‘retreat and reflect’–allow the inner knowledge to emerge; ‘act swiftly, with a natural flow.’ We have come to call these sensing, presencing, and realizing.”
–Presence: Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society, Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, and Flowers, 2004

Just Faith

2dollardifference — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:55:54 +0000

The Just Faith group from St. Ambrose started 2dollardifference on Thursday, 3 December. During class the night before we talked about the prevalence of poverty and hunger in the world. This project is intended to raise awareness of the plight of those who have just $2 a day on which to live. Next week we will discuss the sequence of experience-reflection-action. What will our action be?