Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty

My name is Kelly and this is my very first blog. I thought that today, Blog Action Day 2008, was a good day for me to start. Blog Action Day is an annual event that was created to unite bloggers around the world in discussion of a single topic. In 2008, this topic is poverty.

When I decided that today would be the day that I would post my first blog and that it would be in support of Blog Action Day, I started to do some research on poverty and found lots of really sad and scary statistics. I am a supporter of anti-poverty initiatives, I base my election decisions in large part on support for social programs and reforms and consider myself an enlightened person, and yet I was truly shocked to learn that more than 50,000 people die every day from poverty-related causes, 30,000 of those being children.

Obviously, this needs to change and each of us can make a difference. Make a donation to a local food bank or work in a soup kitchen for a day. I have a friend in California who is very active in Habitat for Humanity putting roofs over the heads of those who can’t afford it otherwise. As a music lover, I was thrilled to find Save the World With Music (thanks to the blogger at Biggs Museum of American Art) where by answering music trivia questions, you can provide one person with clean water for a day. Lets all help to make a difference.