CFC Cause of the Week: End Poverty

This week’s CFC Cause of the Week is End Poverty. An estimated 656 million people live below the international poverty line and are deprived of basic human needs such as health care, nutrition, clean water, proper sanitation, and education. Here in the United States, 37.9 million people are living in poverty. People fall into poverty for innumerable reasons – health issues, lack of access to resources, discrimination, and natural or manmade disasters, to name a few. The world’s poorest people are often the most vulnerable to horrible outcomes like trafficking and exploitation. CFC charities address poverty by caring for immediate needs and helping people better prepare for their future through programs like job training, small business support, and legal aid. Here is just one example of how a CFC-participating charity is giving people a hand up:

Mohamed lives in Uganda. He had to stop going to high school when his parents could no longer afford to pay for his school fees and books. So, he decided to try growing tomatoes to help provide income for his family. He enrolled in a CFC-participating charity program that trained him and loaned him $270 to purchase tools and seeds. He planted half an acre of tomatoes. After the harvest, he earned $1,080 – enough to pay back his loan and expand to a full acre the next season.

Would you like to give someone a hand up? Donate today. (Please make sure that you list 20560 for the Smithsonian Zip Code when donating.)

Here are a few more examples of how CFC donations can help:

• Give a family a flock of chicks, providing a source of nutrition and income for years to come.
• Loan seed money to help an entrepreneur start a small business.
• Provide vocational job training programs.

Learn more about how to End Poverty and visit the Virtual Charity Fair.

For further information on this message, contact Office of Communications and External Affairs Campaign Managers:  Michelle Gelhausen, GelhausenM1@si.edu and Ed Tudor, TudorC@si.edu in the Office of Visitor Services.

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