World hunger - A Billion for a Billion

"Hunger: every 6 seconds a child dies from hunger. If you're reading this, you can make a difference. Take action: https://www.wfp.org/donate/1billion"

Peace Market 2010: March 10th in NYC

If you're in NYC or will be in NYC on March 10, 2010, I highly encourage you to attend Peace Market 2010. It will be held at the M2 Ultralounge. More from their site:

"Join 1,000 remarkable friends and celebrities as the Peace Market transforms M2 into a market offering tastes, scents, sounds, and art from the Middle East and South Asia. Belly dancing, performances, video art, a Moroccan tea salon, a live auction, a hummus taste-off, the chance to meet inspiring Seeds of Peace graduates, and more will be revealed on this special night.

Seeds of Peace is proud to present Mr. Ozi Amanat and Mrs. Asema Ali Ahmed with the 2010 Young Peacemaker Award for their outstanding philanthropic work supporting youth leadership empowerment programs in South Asia and throughout the world."

Chase Community Giving, Vote For the Center for The Pacific Asian Family!

HatTip to Teddy Zee. Helping out our friend, Teddy Zee, with his cause! Vote for the Center for The Pacific Asian Family to help them win the $1 million dollars prize of the Chase Community Giving contest. Go to www.voteCPAF.org

"Unite Against the Violence" video was created with the support of various Asian American actors and artists to support the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF) in the fight against domestic violence and sexual assault.




Music by Sam Geunjin Kang.

Join the fight with CPAF as we try to end the silence on violence!

One Water Launching This Spring 2009

One Water is a UK brand and company that donates 100% of its profits to select charities. They are launching in the U.S. this spring where 100% of their profits will go to PlayPumps International. To date, they have donated $2.5 million, which in turn has provided clean drinking water to over 220 communities in rural Africa. It happens that my old grad school friend, Ron, is heading their U.S. efforts.

Did you know that 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to clean water? Or that 2 million people die each year as a result of water related diseases?

"The great news is that now you can make a difference and it’s as simple as a trip to your local store. Next time you are looking for a bottle of water, buy a bottle of One water, and all our profits - every last drop - will go toward funding the installation of a PlayPump water system. The PlayPump is an incredible innovation that we guarantee will capture your imagination and heart.

THINK about it. Every time you buy a bottle of water, you are choosing to make a difference. We have raised $2.5M to date and funded over 220 PlayPumps from our sales in the United Kingdom, bringing clean water to millions. We’re funding a new pump every 3 days. With our launch in the United States we will soon be funding a new pump every day! To learn more about PlayPumps or how you can help us make One a success, email (infous@global-ethics.com) us today."

You can find out where to buy it here, or consider carrying it in your restaurant, office, or local supermarket and use the form described here.

Call + Response... More Slaves Today Than Ever Before

I recently learned about this documentary, "Call+Response." It's about a topic that is ignored especially relative to the mass scale of the problem of modern day slavery. I first learned about the extent of this horrific issue through International Justice Mission years ago. Check out the site and go see this film! Here is the summary of the film project:

Call+Response is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals a terrifying secret: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. In 2007, slave traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined. Call+Response goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving. First hand accounts from luminaries like Cornel West, Julia Ormond, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Ashley Judd, and Nicholas Kristof provide the backdrop of for this 21st century nightmare. Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek, Rocco Deluca, move this information into inspiration offering this century its first abolitionist songs.




CNN's report: A new movie is working to shed light on the international slave trade. CNN's Kareen Wynter reports.

American Express Members Project... Vote for LiNK or Five & Alive! Both!

A couple great causes I know of are participating in the American Express Members Project where the winning project will be awarded $1.5 million. Second and third place projects will win $500,000 and $300,000 respectively, and then two finalists will win $100,000 each. Very cool effort by American Express.

The first project to consider is Liberty House by LiNK (Liberty in North Korea):

Liberty House: a refugee resettlement center specifically for North Korean refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. In conjunction with the federal government, full financial support, basic necessities, and core services – such as case management, vocational/ educational training, job placement, counseling, mentorship, cultural orientation, and recreational/ youth activities – will be provided. The goal of Liberty House is to acculturate these unique refugees and help them become self-sufficient.

North Korea is home to some of today’s worst human rights violations. As such, up to 300,000 have fled to China risking torture/execution if captured and repatriated. A fraction escape and seek resettlement in nations willing to provide asylum. Once resettled, refugees face issues like discrimination, acclimating to a new culture/language, getting jobs, and starting new lives alone. Due to the unique background of these refugees, it’s critical there is a program to address their specific needs. (read more and vote here)


Mi Sun: A North Korean Refugee


Adrian Hong, LiNK's Co-founder and Executive Director, is a friend and asked me to be an advisor to their incredible nonprofit organization earlier this year.

The second project to consider is Five & Alive. It was founded by Kate Roberts, who I met during the Socrates Society Seminars of the Aspen Institute. Very cool and amazing person. Kate founded the Youth AIDS program and then founded Five & Alive. Both are initiatives under PSI. More on their project:

Five & Alive reaches children five and under to prevent and treat malaria, water-borne illness, pneumonia and malnutrition. Five & Alive, a program of Population Services International (PSI), provides children and their families with the education, products, services and care needed to improve health and save lives in more than 30 countries.

Every year, an estimated two million children under the age of five die from diarrhea. Children die in such shockingly high numbers because of loss of fluids during severe diarrhea. Approximately 95% of these deaths could be prevented. There is a solution that is simple to use, cost effective and could save millions of lives. That solution is oral rehydration salts (ORS) combined with zinc.

Five & Alive has such a treatment in one complete package called a Diarrhea Treatment Kit. This kit costs just 37¢ and is easy to distribute. This Five & Alive project can be eligible for the top Members Project prize of $1.5 million but we can’t do it alone - we need your help. (read more and vote here)


Reducing diarrhea risk for Cambodian children


The first round of VOTING ENDS AUGUST 31ST. Vote for one of these great causes! Vote for both!!