Empty Bowls & ONE
My passion for ending world hunger and poverty all started when I was in high school through a program called Empty Bowls. It was here, in high school, when I first heard of ONE and learned that it was a way for me to continue doing the amazing work in the fight against poverty, disease, and world hunger. It seems that so much of what I’m doing now, my major at Clark University, my dreams of one day working for a non-profit, and my overall world view, all stem back to high school. Because of this, I was honored when I was asked to go back to my high school and speak about ONE at Empty Bowls.
Empty Bowls is a program done in schools across the nation and is a way for students to raise awareness, education, and money to end world hunger. The students make bowls out of clay to sell to the community all while educating everyone on hunger both locally and globally. The program has been continually growing to the entire school district being involved along with many other members of the community. Hundreds of bowls were sold, local artists donated pieces that were sold through a silent auction, and many other efforts were put forth to raise money. After participants bought bowls and were given a meal of rice and bread, all came to the program where I had the chance to speak as the keynote speaker.
With over 700 people in the audience, I told how Empty Bowls was what ignited my passion to fight world hunger and how the ONE Campaign is a way to continually fuel that passion. I commended those in the audience for the efforts put forth that night. Together, the members of my hometown community in Osceola, Wisconsin raised over $18,000 to fight hunger. This money will make an amazing difference for the lives of so many, but what I also felt was that each person also had the opportunity to change their own lives by signing up for ONE.
It was so great to go back to my high school and have the chance to continue working for ONE beyond the school year. It seems everywhere I go I can find a chance to talk about ONE and try and spark the same passion I have for ONE’s goals. At the end of the program many people came up to me to ask more questions and I was more than happy to talk. Hopefully I can keep on finding more ways to reach out to my community back home and find some more ideas for OCC next year!
-Kelly Wynveen
July 14th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I am a ONE member that has been paying attention to a number of issues involving poverty lately. Why?
1.Because it is so prevalent not only in the world but in our own country.
2.Because I am currently out of work and have been paying attention to the amount of money that I spend and how much I want to save
3.Because poverty has different meanings to different people and low-income doesn’t necessarily mean poverty but how you use your income determines whether or not you may be poverty-stricken.
I’ve learnt much about myself these past few months that might help others to try and encourage themselves out of the possibility of poverty.
1. I recently learnt that you do not need an address to open a bank account, all you need is at least $50.00. I have an address and opened an account and with saving nothing but pennies and other change and a few bills that was gifted to me by my father from my purse, I have accumulated the following deposits to help pay my own bills:
5/29/09 $2.50
6/17/09 $20.86
6/29/09 $22.42
6/29/09 $70.00
My small change made more of a difference than I realized and I was able to pay not just one bill but two. I surprised myself and was encouraged at the possibilty of getting my finances in order in this manner.
2. I have been cooking for me and my family and just by recycling leftovers into new meals such as soups and small rice dishes, I have saved my mother and the rest of my household over $200.00.
3. In another means, I’ve been calculating the amount of money that I spend daily to survive by only catering to the necessities in my life and so far, I’ve realized that for less than $5.00 a day by cooking for myself and my family rather than buying food outside, I’ve been able to fulfill all my own requirement and still have some change to save.
This may not be helpful to individuals in other countries but might help young adults in this country.
Sincerely,
Kamini Kandica Abdool
W.
ONE and RED Member.