SALT LAKE CITY – The Global Poverty Project recently had a gala in Salt Lake City to raise funds for their goal to end world poverty. Several celebrities were in attendance, and the gala itself featured Larry King, a TV and radio show host. Some of the other attendees to the Salt Lake City gala were: Maggie Grace, star of “Taken,” and Josh Kelley, a country singer. The fundraiser was a $150-a-head event, and occurred August 24th, 2013, at the Grand America Hotel. The Global Poverty Project wants a world without extreme poverty, where a person or family cannot meet the basic needs of food, shelter, water, sanitation, or healthcare. Currently, 1.4 billion people are faced with extreme poverty each day.
Still, there is hope that extreme poverty will be eliminated in our lifetime, or even in the next few years. Already, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has been halved in only a two decades. The main way that the Global Poverty Project wants to reduce poverty is through creating change. They want to help the world’s poor fight poverty, by “mobilizing everyday people to take powerful actions for lasting change.” There have been several projects launched by the Global Poverty Project, including 1.4 Billion Reasons and Live Below the Line. 1.4 Billion Reasons was a multimedia presentation that was brought to multiple colleges and venues, which explained extreme poverty and what can be done to fight it. Live Below the Line was a campaign meant to raise funds, and it encouraged over 40,000 people to raise over $9 million – this campaign focused on having the participants live as if they were in extreme poverty for a week, only spending $1.25 a day.
The gala in Salt Lake City was held for the Global Poverty Project, which not only started fundraisers and raised awareness for the fight against poverty, but created a unique way of engaging people in the fight against poverty – it gives out concert tickets to those who take action, through the Global Citizen website. An interesting take on social justice, it encourages the younger generation, who may not be inclined to go out and fight poverty, to engage in the fight. Certainly, they may be primarily doing it to win concert tickets, but each individual is still making an important difference in the world.
Now, the Global Poverty Project is preparing for their next big event – the 2013 Global Citizen Festival, which is a concert that will occur in Central Park in New York City on September 28th, 2013. Singers will include Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys, and John Mayer. All proceeds go straight towards the goal of fighting poverty. Overall, every event helps generate funds for The Global Poverty Project, which works to raise awareness and fund programs that will fight extreme poverty. Given enough time and with the support of millions (as well as quite a few celebrities), there is no doubt that the Global Poverty Project will impact the people living in extreme poverty. Indeed, it is not a far-fetched idea that extreme poverty could even be completely eradicated within the next generation.
– Corina Balsamo
Sources: The Salt Lake Tribune, The Global Poverty Project, Global Citizen