Today is Blog action day. I can’t remember if I signed up or not, but as I did last year, I figured I’d shoot out a quick post about this year’s topic – Poverty. There are lots of ways that we can help overcome poverty in the world today.
One of the first thoughts I had was a site that I’ve visited a few times, but have yet to try. It is Kiva.org. Kiva allows you to make a “Loan” to an entrepreneur in a 3rd world country. You pick a specific person to loan to, and the loan amount and they pay you back when they succeed. If you invested even $25 (the smallest amount allowed) every quarter, or even every month, my thought is that if/when you get paid back, you can then reinvest that money back to someone else who could use it and that same money would build over time as you invest in more people and you could help a whole bunch of people – and you can see their businesses grow!
Another way to help out poverty in your own area is to do something that we just did recently here at work. A food drive. Its not a new idea but if you can get a group of people to donate a few dollars worth of food you can make a big difference. I know that here in Utah they are needing way more food than they recently anticipated due to the hard economic times. If you are time pressed, the Utah food bank even has a virtual shopping experience where you can donate food or money without even going to the store.
In the Doctrine and Covenants section 104 verses 17 and 84 read:
17 For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
84 Inasmuch as you obtain a chance to loan money by hundreds, or thousands, even until you shall loan enough to deliver yourself from bondage, it is your privilege.
Take a few minutes today and see what you can do to help poverty. Even just a few dollars can go a long way.
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