7 Days of Eating on Just $2.85 per day!
This year, the charity that I work with, Thrive for Good, is celebrating 15 years of empowering families and communities with the knowledge, seeds, and tools to grow their own healthy, nutritious disease-fighting foods.
To raise awareness of the issues of food insecurity and extreme poverty I am going to be challenging myself to eat and drink on just $2.85 each day for one week in August.
719 million people around the world live in extreme poverty, meaning that they live on the equivalent of what you can buy for $2.85 CAD a day every day.
This is going to be very difficult but it will help me to get a better understanding of the lack of choice and opportunity that 2 billion people face every day.
I won’t be able to accept “donated food” from others. I will only be drinking tap water as it will be considered free (no morning tea or coffee). I will be able to use what I have available from my small garden. I won’t be able to go into the pantry to grab a snack or eat whatever I would like.
Why am I doing this?
To raise awareness for the families and children that eat less than 2 unhealthy meals each day. And to raise funds to create more food gardens for people living in extreme poverty (100% of your donation goes towards providing training, seeds, and tools and you will receive a tax receipt).
Why $2.85 CAD per day?
Anyone living on less than $2.85 a day is considered to be living in extreme poverty. The World Bank updated the global poverty line to that amount in September 2022.
What am I going to eat?
Not very much. I will be eating a lot less in quantity and variety than I am used to. I will be providing updates on how I will be feeling and the meals that I will be eating which will mostly include beans and rice. I will have a total of $19.95 to spend on all of my meals for 7 days.
How can you help?
- Help me reach my fundraising goal by donating any amount. You will receive a tax receipt! $15 gives one person the knowledge, skills, and tools to grow nutrition for a lifetime.
- Share my fundraising campaign on your social media platforms.
- Tell your friends and family about what Thrive for Good is doing to help end malnutrition and extreme poverty.
Thank you so much for your generosity and support.
Thrive for Good is Celebrating 15 Years
Thrive’s story began when founders, Dale and Linda Bolton, first realized the need to grow health in Africa.
“It was at an orphanage in Malawi we'd helped build. The children were loved, protected, educated, and immunized. But with all the costs, there was only enough to feed them a diet of ugali - the equivalent of white cornmeal. We knew they could never thrive and fight life-threatening diseases on such limited nutrients. Yet all around the orphanage was uncultivated land and the perfect conditions for growing. With the right knowledge and simple tools, we knew it was possible for that orphanage to grow life-giving, disease-fighting foods without the limitations of cost. “ From that moment on, Dale traded in his retirement dream of traveling the world via sailboat for a new dream - fighting against extreme poverty and hunger. Dale and Linda dedicated everything they had, including all profits from their business Natural Calm Canada, to finding a solution. In 2008, Organics 4 Orphans became a registered charity in Canada. |  |
“Getting our hands deep in the soil in Africa, learning from local Biointensive agriculture experts, we developed research-based methods for growing the most nutritious food, organically — almost anywhere and at the lowest cost.
We layered in a model for holistic health that includes deep education on nutrition and natural, indigenous medicine.”
They quickly learned that knowledge only matters if it can be shared and they created a train-the-trainer model where people teach others, allowing for more change and transformation to occur.
Dozen of trips to Kenya and 15 years later, the organization that Dale and Linda founded, Thrive for Good, has projects in over 1,100 communities in 17 countries that are helping more than 120,000 people.
Today, billions of people worldwide are struggling to put food on their tables and don’t have the resources to feed their families three healthy meals per day.
Do anything to FUNdraise for Life Gardens.
Help empower more people like Janet to grow healthy food so their families can eat at least 2 nutritious meals per day and their kids can attend school, having a better chance at reaching their full potential in life.
You can do anything to raise funds to help more families and communities start a Life Garden.
Need inspiration? People just like you are making a difference by running the following campaigns.
- Run a birthday campaign and ask friends and family to donate your age in dollars
- Host a sports tournament (baseball, golf, etc.)
- Participate in a walkathon or running event
- Organize a bottle drive
- Have a yard sale or bake sale
- Put on a car wash
- Host a trivia night
- Plan a 50/50 raffle
- Grow a beard or shave your head!
- Host a virtual event (yoga, workout, pilates, etc.)
- Create a cookbook and give it away for donations
70-year-old Founder, Dale Bolton, will be taking on all 900 km of the Bruce Trail.
“This year I have decided to hike all 900 kilometers of the Bruce Trail. 15 years ago Linda and I founded Thrive for Good. I want to celebrate the thousands of lives that have been transformed through nutritious Life Gardens and raise awareness and funds for the work that still needs to be done in the coming years as world hunger continues to rise.
I will be hiking 2 consecutive days per week for 15 weeks. Each day I will hike 30 kilometers, clocking in approximately 36,000 steps. This will take me at least 8 hours a day of walking and hiking to complete.
This is bringing me back to my roots as a kid. I always loved going for hikes in the bush and spending time with myself.”
Click here to see Dale’s fundraising campaign.
Starting a campaign is easy.
