What began several years ago as a class project for an introductory macroeconomics course at the University of Mary Washington will gain national recognition during the first U.S. Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy in Washington, D.C.
The Two Dollar Challenge, with its nonprofit partner Opportunity International, was among 10 groups invited to the November 16-19 conference because of their innovative approaches to engaging citizens in the worldwide fight on poverty.
The partnership will share its initiative Wednesday, November 17 during the summit convened by the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy in conjunction with the U.S. State Department.
Representing Two Dollar Challenge from UMW are Shawn Humphrey, Two Dollar Challenge founder and an associate professor of economics; executive director Erin Kelly ’09; national president Meredith Greenwell ’11; and campus president Laura Dick ’13.
The Two Dollar Challenge has been adopted at other colleges since it was founded in 2006 at UMW to raise awareness of global poverty on campus through fundraising, but also to help change student perceptions of poverty. The challenge uses the annual experiential learning exercise called Challenge Week. Participants accept the challenge of living on $2 a day—what half the world’s population lives on—for five days while begging for food, boiling water to sanitize it and using no personal electricity after sunset.
Challenge Week “creates opportunities for young people to effectively make a difference,” said Humphrey.
The partnership of the Two Dollar Challenge and Opportunity International was selected to present their efforts to involve citizens in fighting poverty and disease—one of seven “global challenges” highlighted at the summit, Humphrey said. In all, about 70 organizations were chosen—10 for each of seven global challenges—for their responses to such challenges as preserving the environment, encouraging cultural engagement and achieving food security.
“There was a nationwide process by which organizations were selected from across the country, and we feel honored to have been recognized,” Humphrey said.
At the conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to speak, as well as President Barak Obama or Vice President Joe Biden.
All of the UMW representatives attending the conference believe it will help bring name recognition to the grassroots organization at Mary Washington.
Greenwell plans to spread word about the “unique initiative” to other nonprofit organizations. “We will be able to share our ideas with others and hear theirs as well,” she said.
With the exposure that it expects to receive at the summit, the Two Dollar Challenge hopes to expand Challenge Week to 50 colleges in 2011, 100 in 2012 and 200 in 2013.
The partnership with Opportunity will help the challenge branch out. “It’s hard for us to just call people without an introduction,” Dick said.
Opportunity International is a nonprofit microfinance organization that gives groups like the Two Dollar Challenge an outlet for donating funds to people living in poverty in 27 countries.
Last spring, Opportunity became the preferred partner for the Two Dollar Challenge, matching the UMW group with two Kenyan women who own their own business. The $2,200 raised at UMW during challenge week was given to the women through the microfinance organization.
In 2009, the Two Dollar Challenge also raised its visibility at the Clinton Global Initiative University, where UMW’s Poverty Action Conference and the challenge were presented by students.
The same year, Challenge Week was implemented on other university campuses nationwide including Point Loma Nazarene University in California, Front Range Community College in Colorado, Westminster College in Utah and Indiana University.
While some schools, like UMW, build makeshift shelters to replicate living in poverty, others host lectures on global poverty or campus-wide fundraising events.
However, Challenge Week is not the only presence the club hopes to have on campus. This academic year, the club leaders want to get more students involved through an online blog and guest speakers on campus in order to emphasize the existence of poverty worldwide.
“It’s not like poverty is only around for a week,” Dick said.