The Give Blog

Could you eat and drink on $7 a day?

This week the United Way hosted a Hunger Challenge in Washington.  To participate you signed up via their website and pledged to eat on $7 a day which is what people subsisting on foodstamps do.  A reporter in Seattle failed in his attempt last year.  This is some coverage of how he’s doing this year. 

komonews.com: Hunger Challenge Day 1, 2, and 3  By Brian Calvert

I'm hungry already.Taking on the "Hunger Challenge" is a daunting assignment, but beginning the challenge on the same day you're launching a new show on the radio has been an experience so far.Today's first show was really exhilarating. So much so that I forgot to eat. As I write this (it's 2 p.m. already), I'm catching up. I've had two bananas, and am now working on a bowl of cereal.Welcome to Day One of the Hunger Challenge. A little background: The idea is to call attention to the many people here on our area who struggle on a daily basis to provide healthy meals for themselves and their families. Throw in a sour economy, and there are a lot more people... perhaps you know some of them... suddenly thrust into a life of not knowing if there will be enough food tomorrow.The Hunger Challenge is part of "Hunger Action Week," and the plan is to get this issue on your radar this week. . . . By the way, I was reading through the comments after yesterday's post, and several of you wrote about being able to stretch even LESS money on a weekly basis. Congratulations! I was really inspired with your tips. Some wrote about shopping at Wal-Mart and Grocery Outlet, where they stretched money even further. Others talked about buying a bag of generic cereal...and getting way more for the money. These are obviously habits you've learned by experience, and I really appreciate you sharing the information. One person wrote about spending way less than $7 a day to feed her family. I bet she learned that over the course of several shopping trips. I am humbled and inspired by the people here in our own community who have had to learn to make do with so little. Perhaps that's why the "Hunger Challenge" is such a worthwhile exercise. For those who have adequate means, it's a lesson in the reality your next-door neighbor is facing. For those who struggle on a daily basis financially, perhaps the challenge is a "voice" to help educate the rest of us that we really have an issue to deal with here in Washington. . . . Stretching dollars isn't enough, you have to make time to plan meals, cook meals, and enjoy your meals. . . . Read the entire blog regarding Brian Calvert’s experience in the Hunger Challenge.

Living on $30,000 in NYC

I thought I had done pretty well in NYC while I was in law school there living on $10 a day (bagels and laundry detergent included) from 1988-1991.  Someone outdid me.  Read this story about this journalist’s daughter living on $30,000 in the Big Apple in 2008.

The Wall Street Journal--Down, but Not Out, in Brooklyn: a Daughter's Story  By NEAL TEMPLIN

When our then-22-year-old daughter told us in the fall of 2008 that she intended to move out of our house and live in New York City on her own, we told her it would be tough. She didn't believe us. Mariana proved us wrong. She not only lived in New York on a salary of less than $30,000 from a publishing-industry job, she managed to save $5,000 over the course of a year. On top of that, she stashed about $1,000 in her 401(k) account. How was that possible in one of the most expensive cities in the world? . . . Cheap living always starts with keeping the big expenses small. For most of us, that means housing. Amid the real-estate crisis, Mariana and three friends were able to lease a four-bedroom apartment in the upscale Park Slope section of Brooklyn for $3,100 a month. Mariana then volunteered to take the tiniest bedroom (plus a small studio so she could paint), so her share came to only $750 a month. Her next biggest expense was food. She joined a nearby food cooperative to slash her bill. When she did go out, she'd hit cheap restaurants. Once she ordered a $9.99 whole chicken at a local BBQ chain renowned for its big portions and cheap prices. She then took the chicken bones home and made soup out of them. . . . Young people often spend big bucks on entertainment. By contrast, Mariana says she spent most of her time in New York doing things that were free. She went to museums that have suggested donations, not a fixed admission price. "The things I enjoy most aren't very expensive," she says. "The thing I love most about New York City is walking around." When she did go out with friends, she would encourage friends to share a bottle of wine before so she wouldn't feel like drinking much at the club.  Read the entire story.

My favorite NYC bagel shop--

 

On the Ground: Save the Children

Today we feature Save the Children, which has received the best rating from Charity Navigator and an A from the American Institute of Philanthropy.  Below is some coverage regarding Save the Children's work in Haiti before and after the Earthquake. 

The Chronicle of Philanthropy--View From Haiti: Head of Save the Children Talks About the Relief Effort  By Caroline Preston

Charles F. MacCormack, chief executive of Save the Children, traveled to Haiti on Sunday to track how much progress is being made in helping victims of the recent earthquake, and to check in on his staff members there. Mr. MacCormack’s group, which has worked in Haiti since 1978, employed 160 people in the country before the disaster. One of its staff members was killed in the earthquake; others were injured and many lost family members. Roughly half of the charity’s 59 staff members in Port-au-Prince are now back at work, distributing medical supplies and providing other aid to quake victims. The charity is also working outside Port-au-Prince — in Leogane and Jacmel — to set up play areas for children who’ve been made homeless by the earthquake, and to offer other assistance. Save the Children has roughly 200 staff members now in Haiti. Read the interview with Mr. MacCormack regarding the Haiti relief efforts.

 

Our Conscious Living: Vintage Sweatshirt?

Not too many people can say that they have a twenty-two year old sweatshirt that they still wear.  Well, Suj can.  It’s pictured below.  This is what Suj wears to bed.  It may be see-through but it’s not sexy.  I tried to buy her some sleeping wear but she would not have it.  Suj bought the sweatshirt while she was a student at Northwestern. Clearly she can’t wear this very far out of the house though she does don it to fetch the paper in the morning.  I know she wishes for a new sweatshirt sometimes.  While we now both work at Illinois (go fighting Illini), she still cheers for Northwestern when Illinois is not playing them. For her, though, it’s a slippery slope.  If she buys the Northwestern sweatshirt, why not also buy a sweatshirt from NYU.  She also likes a bunch of the Illinois gear that is all about our town.  We actually consciously choose not to buy any of this stuff because we know that even if we can save just a few dollars, we can give instead, and as the result of these choices, this money can feed more people.  We do still buy things that we don’t need but we try to take clothes almost completely out of the equation of our choice between buying and feeding.  With that said, I can’t believe that she still wears this thing.

  

The New York Times: The Power of Half

Below is a wonderful story from The New York Times about a family selling their house and donating $800,000 to The Hunger Project.  They have written a book called The Power of Half that comes out next month.  On a different subject, we continue to think about the people of Haiti. See our post here.  There is a need for tents among other things.  We can afford to donate more, and we are doing so.

What Could You Live Without? By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

It all began with a stop at a red light. Kevin Salwen, a writer and entrepreneur in Atlanta, was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006. While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other. “Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal,” Hannah protested. The light changed and they drove on, but Hannah was too young to be reasonable. She pestered her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something. “What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?”. . . Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project — crazy, impetuous and utterly inspiring — is chronicled in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: “The Power of Half.”. . . At a time of enormous needs in Haiti and elsewhere, when so many Americans are trying to help Haitians by sending everything from text messages to shoes, the Salwens offer an example of a family that came together to make a difference — for themselves as much as the people they were trying to help. . . . Mr. Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house. But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house. . . . One reason for that togetherness was the complex process of deciding how to spend the money. The Salwens researched causes and charities, finally settling on the Hunger Project, a New York City-based international development organization that has a good record of tackling global poverty. . . . As for Kevin Salwen, he’s delighted by what has unfolded since that encounter at the red light. “This is the most self-interested thing we have ever done,” he said. “I’m thrilled that we can help others. I’m blown away by how much it has helped us.” Read the entire story.

 

Conscious Living in the Workplace

We asked our friend Sean Arthurs, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., to blog about his experience consciously living in the workplace some years ago.  Here is Sean’s story:

From the Fall of 1999 through June of 2001, Vinny and I wore khakis (his brown, mine beige) and a short sleeved blue shirt every day.  Same khakis.  Same shirt.  Every day.  Jim, who has been doing this from the Fall of 2000 through today, changes his outfit every year so while some years he has also sported khakis and a blue shirt, other years have seen Jim in a green shirt.  Admittedly, when I say every day, I don’t mean we literally wore the same set of clothes every single day.  Weekends and summers, we wore other things.  But during the school year, the three of us wore the same pants and the same shirt every day, all year. . . Wearing the same outfits also enabled us to share more of our resources.  Each of us donated several garbage bags of professional clothing to a local homeless shelter once we committed to wearing one outfit for the year.  And though we weren’t clotheshorses to begin with, this form of simple living meant that we no longer needed to buy new clothes for work and could share these savings with others.  Most unexpectedly though, we each found that wearing the same clothes every day influenced our attitudes towards other forms of materialism and consumerism.  Buying popcorn at the movies or spending $20 for a new CD (yes, this was back in the day) were expenses that somehow seemed inconsistent with the way we dressed. Read the entire story.

 

The New York Times on the Relationship Between Giving and Happiness

Our Basic Human Pleasures: Food, Sex and Giving  By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Want to be happier in 2010? Then try this simple experiment, inspired by recent scholarship in psychology and neurology. Which person would you rather be: Richard is an ambitious 36-year-old white commodities trader in Florida. He’s healthy and drop-dead handsome, lives alone in a house with a pool, and has worked his way through a series of gorgeous women. Richard’s job is stressful, but he spent Christmas in Tahiti. Unencumbered, he also has time to indulge such passions as reading (right now he’s finishing a book called “Half the Sky”), marathon running and writing poetry. In the last few days, he has been composing an elegy about the Haiti earthquake. Lorna is a 64-year-old black woman in Boston. She’s overweight and unattractive, even after a recent nose job. Lorna is on regular dialysis, but that doesn’t impede her active social life or babysitting her grandchildren. A retired school assistant, she is close to her 67-year-old husband and is much respected in her church for directing the music committee and the semiannual blood drive. Lorna believes in tithing (giving 10 percent of her income to charity or the church) and in the last few days has organized a church drive to raise $10,000 for earthquake relief in Haiti. I adapted those examples from ones that Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, develops in his fascinating book, “The Happiness Hypothesis.” His point is that while most of us might prefer to trade places with Richard, Lorna is probably happier. . . . Lorna has a few advantages over Richard. She has less stress and is respected by her peers — factors that make us feel good. Happiness is tied to volunteering and to giving blood, and people with religious faith tend to be happier than those without. A solid marriage is linked to happiness, as is participation in social networks. And one study found that people who focus on achieving wealth and career advancement are less happy than those who focus on good works, religion or spirituality, or friends and family. . . .So at a time of vast needs, from Haiti to our own cities, here’s a nice opportunity for symbiosis: so many afflicted people, and so much benefit to us if we try to help them. Let’s remember that while charity has a mixed record helping others, it has an almost perfect record of helping ourselves. Helping others may be as primal a human pleasure as food or sex.  Read entire article.

 

On the Ground: Brooklyn Workforce Innovations

Last month, we learned about a cool organization in New York City.  Aaron Shiffman,  the brother of my old study buddy in law school, Steve Shiffman, runs Brooklyn Workforce Innovations (BWI).  Since 2000, BWI has helped unemployed and working poor New Yorkers establish careers. It serves more than 450 new participants annually with programs in commercial driving, telecommunications cable installation, woodworking, and TV and film production.  We think this type of organization is crucial to help individuals with job skills.  In addition to BWI, we currently provide support to one such organization in Cincinnati, Ohio and one in South Africa, both of which we will cover on the blog in the future.  Here is a story from BWI:

Tasha, a Brooklyn resident and mother of two, was struggling to make ends meet on public assistance after her $7 an hour job at a beauty salon was eliminated.  Tasha came to BWI looking for a career with long-term potential that would enable her to support her 4 year old daughter and 5 month old son.  Because she liked working on her feet and wanted to do field work, staff encouraged her to apply to Brooklyn Networks, the cable program.  Tasha successfully completed training, earning the internationally recognized BICSI cable installer certification through BWI.  But she had some difficulty keeping post graduation appointments as she learned to balance the demands of work and home.  BWI staff continued to counsel and work with her, and eventually she landed a job at Cablevision earning $12.95 per hour.  Tasha has been with Cablevision for more than 4 years now and currently earns $17 per hour.  She also receives health benefits and has a pension plan.  

Below is a picture of a woman in the BWI cable program.

 

Our Conscious Living: The Jeep

We have written about our trials with the 2000 BMW.  We have another car – the Jeep.  I bought the Jeep in October of 2006, when I was going through a divorce.  I thought it would make my life better.  It didn’t. I still like the Jeep though.  With the top down, it’s a Harley with four wheels.  But, as much as I like the Jeep, Suja doesn’t like it.  It’s not that she doesn’t think that it’s cool looking.  It’s that there are a few problems with the Jeep.  With a soft top, it’s not the safest vehicle. Also, I worry about it. On our second date, I took Suja to a restaurant, and when we returned, I discovered that my car had been broken into – pretty easy in a Jeep – just unzip.  The most significant problem with the Jeep is that we just don’t need it.  We walk to work on most days, and we have never used both cars at the same time.  Suja has been encouraging me to sell the Jeep for over a year now.  If we did, we could give away the $328 a month that we make in payment for this car that we basically don’t use. I’m starting the process of selling the car today.  I’m trying to think of it as just a car to get over it (the Jeep).  We’ll report back on how this goes.

 

A Strategy to Eliminate Poverty

The New York Times--Progress Report of a Millennium Village By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

The following is the first in a series of reports from the Ethiopian village of Koraro, an important testing ground for the Millennium Village Project, an experiment in global development strategy spearheaded by economist Jeffrey Sachs. The reports, written by Jeff Marlow, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, consider which parts of the project are working and which ones aren’t, and what can be learned from it to help billions of people escape extreme poverty.

Five years ago, the northern Ethiopian village of Koraro was on the edge of survival. Malaria and parasitic diseases were rampant; school was an afterthought, precluded by material needs; and the region was dependent on food hand-outs for its very survival. If you were looking for the most impoverished, marginalized community on the planet, Koraro may well have been it.
Today, the village has a school, a health clinic and a market. With the help of fertilizer and better seeds, crop yields have grown dramatically. Parasitic intestinal worms, pervasive five years ago, are almost unheard-of today. Life is still a challenge in Koraro, but things have certainly gotten better. Read the entire story.