How do you help the poor?

Helping the poor and effectively lifting them out of poverty may seem at first to be impossible; with over 925 million affected it may seem like too large of a problem for any one person to have an effect.

While the bad news is that poverty is a large problem, the good news is that one person can have an impact and help the poor by ending poverty. Simply producing more food to help end their hunger and raise their families is not enough; problems still exist in getting the food to those who need it. The ability to pay for the food is crucial, and without the means to support themselves those who are poor often find themselves caught in a poverty trap, perpetually unable to dig themselves out and end the cycle of poverty. For various structural, social, and economic reasons individuals cannot, despite their best efforts, escape the trap of poverty, remaining poor, hungry and stuck in a deplorable situation. Various strategies exist on a structural level that aim to end poverty, but on an individual level there is still good that can be done to help end poverty and help the poor.

For a person to help the poor and end poverty it can be as simple as supporting poverty-reduction legislation in Congress. A 30-second phone call to your congressional leaders' offices expressing support for addressing global poverty or a specific bill that addresses global poverty has a huge impact. With enough people calling, congressional leaders realize that the issue is important to their constituents and will pay more attention to the issue. United Nations and other international political bodies have programs aimed specifically at ending poverty, but without funding from nations or individuals they are extremely limited in what they may accomplish. By supporting increased US funding for global poverty alleviation legislation these types of programs will be supported and able to make a difference in helping the poor.

Donating to an organization such as The Borgen Project will also help end poverty, with our ability to mobilize countless individuals such as yourself to call their congressional leaders, support poverty-fighting legislation, and support innovative ideas that fight poverty's reach. Donate now to allow us to continue our role as lobbyists for the world's poor.