Dollar-A-Day spreads awareness of poverty

Seven Campus Y groups sponsored Dollar-A-Day on Thursday" an event to raise awareness of the 1 billion people — about one sixth of the world's population — who live on less than $1 every day.

""My cell phone bill is more than $1 a day"" organizer Thomas Ginn said.

Students purchased slices of pizza for $1, which enabled them to see what it was like to spend that amount on food. They broke their $1 limit with a midnight feast at the Pita Pit and Firehouse Subs.

Those two restaurants agreed to donate 10 percent of their profits for the day for the event. All money raised by Dollar-A-Day goes to Stop Hunger Now, a Raleigh-based nonprofit organization started by a UNC alumnus.

The money raised will provide schools in impoverished areas with meals consisting of rice, soy and dehydrated vegetables.

We wanted to donate to an outside cause" one great cause" Ginn said.

This is the second year the event has been held. Last year's event, which focused mostly on awareness, drew 400 participants.

This year" we trounced that Ginn said. We had more shirts more experience and we had the Pit" which helped a lot despite the bad weather.""

The groups raised $700 last year" which they reinvested into Thursday's event.

Ginn said $200 would be a conservative estimate for money raised Thursday but that does not take into account Pita Pit or Firehouse Subs' donations.

While less money was raised this year" Ginn said it was still more of a success in terms of awareness.

""This year we had more of a presence on campus"" he said. It shows how many students care about this issue.""

In August" Stop Hunger Now held Million Meals an event in which UNC" N.C. State University and East Carolina University students packaged a million meals to send to poorer regions around the world.

Dollar-A-Day aimed to further help that cause and provide more meals for underprivileged children and families.

Junior Sara Riley said the groups had no trouble attracting attention throughout the week.

""We had our bright red shirts" she said. It's too bad about the weather" but we wore our shirts all week. I think that's how we got our message across.""

Riley said Dollar-A-Day helped her feel more knowledgeable about poverty.

For all students" the day served as a chance to reflect Riley said" adding that most UNC students are privileged enough to not have to endure the same conditions that 1 billion people do in other areas.

The fact that Dollar-A-Day included eating pizza and subs as a means to empathize with the poor was a challenge.

""That's one of the things we talked about" Riley said. We wanted people to participate" but we tried to make it clear our message.""



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