Take Action

Below is a printable list of 20 simple steps you can take to make a difference in the fight against extreme poverty. Make a commitment to dedicate a couple minutes each day to doing one of these simple tasks. Before you know it you'll have made a big difference.

1. Sign Up for the ONE Step Newsletter from EndPovertyToday.com
   STEP provides information on simple steps anyone can take to support the fight against poverty. A continuing commitment is essential if we plan to make progress, because poverty will not end after one signature or one fund raiser.
2. Sign the ONE Declaration
   ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History is the largest interest group working on poverty reduction in the United States. By signing the ONE Declaration you are lending your voice to a resounding call for action across the country. Through ONE Step you will get periodic updates on how to support the campaign.
3. Buy a Product(RED) t-shirt
   Half the profits from GAP(RED) products are contributed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
4. Install FightAIDS@home
   The program uses your computers idle time to calculate the effective of potential AIDS treatments. This research helps scientists at the Scripps Research Institute develop better treatments and one day may help lead to a cure, all at no cost to you!
5. Buy The End of Poverty and read it!
   The book was written by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia, and a leading researcher in development economics. It will help you to better understand the goals of this website and how we, as a generation, can end poverty. If you are going to read one book about poverty, read this one!
6. Start using GoodSearch
   50% of the revenue GoodSearch makes is contributed to a charity of your choice. Choose Millennium Promise, click some ads of interest, and start making money just by surfing the web!
7. Write to Congress
   One of the simplest and most effective ways to have an impact on foreign policy is to write a letter. The voiceless dying have no voice in the halls of Congress, but your opinion matters to your representatives, so put it to use!
8. Sign the Stop TB Online Petition
   The Global Plan to Stop TB will provide life saving treatments to 14 million people between now and 2015. This petition is part of EndPovertyToday.com campaign to support funding for the Global Plan.
9. Watch Invisible Children - DVD or Online
   Invisible Children is a riveting, fast-paced documentary on the atrocities taking place in Uganda today. It has rallied tens of thousands of teenagers to do something to help and is fairly informative.
10. Donate a Bed Net to fight Malaria
    3,000 children die every day because of malaria. By contributing $10 to manufacture and distribute an insecticide-treated bed net you can protect the children while they sleep.
11. Tell your friends about what you've done. Get others involved!
    You are making a difference, so inspire others, tell your family and friends what you've learned, and others will want to help. Word of mouth has always been crucial to big movements and big solutions. Remember the story of Paul Revere?
12. Read about the "Singer Solution to Poverty"
    This essay explains why it is so important to give what we can to poverty reduction efforts. If we choose to spend $5 more on ice cream or video games, we have chosen to leave someone to starve so we have more. At the very least the essay should get you thinking!
13. Add EndPovertyToday.com to your friends on MySpace
    Then make sure to read its bulletins and repost them. Go to Tip MySpace to read about this EndPovertyToday project and its potential.
14. Make sure you are following through on ONE Steps! It's crucial in the fight against poverty to make a continuing commitment. We cannot afford to forget to renew our commitment, because solving a problem this big takes time. Still, it can be won in our lifetime with a little effort, so keep up the good work!
15. Buy Fair Trade chocolate or coffee
    The Fairtrade program provides an alternative to traditional labor practices that marginalize the poor. Fairtrade goods are certified to be produced without child or slave labor and sold at prices that allow farmers to feed their families and send their children to school.
16. Fast for one meal
    and contribute what you would have spent to Millennium Promise. For $6 you can pay to ensure one child has school lunches for an entire year. By fasting you'll better understand the plight of the 840 million people on the planet that are starving right now, and you'll help ensure one child does not have to starve.
    to better understand the plight of the 840 million malnourished people alive today
17. Write a Letter to the Editor of a local newspaper
    Media is crucial to politics. People talk about, and act on, what is in the news. By writing letters to the editor we can generate media attention for the greatest moral issue of our time, extreme poverty, and its potential solutions.
18. Join one of EndPovertyToday.com's Campaigns!
    The links on the left panel lead to pages that explain each campaign in a few brief paragraphs. Local campaigns include ONE County and Stop TB. Tip Myspace is a global campaign and Fair Trade can be implemented anywhere!
19. Tell your Church about your efforts and Ask for Support
    Churches are normally fairly willing to get involved in writing letters, taking collections, and holding prayer services. Ask for help and see what your parish is willing to do! By doing so you can spread this campaign to end poverty to hundreds or even thousands more people.
20. Make a monthly commitment of $5
    $5 can pay for a starving child's school lunches for a year. Its not a big sacrifice to make every month, but it makes a huge difference. As we always like to emphasize, we need a continuing commitment if we are really going to solve this problem.