Ben Affleck Pledges To Eat On $1.50 A Day
April 27, 2013Live below the line so that others can rise above it!
Oscar-winning director and actor Ben Affleck recently pledged to participate in the Global Poverty Project’s Live Below the Line challenge. The fundraising campaign challenges individuals and communities to live off of just $1.50 of food per day for five days to help fight extreme poverty and to raise awareness by living the equivalent of the poverty line.
One week before the challenge is to begin, Affleck tweeted, "1.4 billion people live on less than $1.50/day. I'm joining Live #BelowTheLine on behalf of @easterncongo. Will you?"
Out of the twelve charities participating in the Live Below the Line challenge, Affleck choose to support the Eastern Congo Initiative. That should come as no surprise since Affleck founded the advocacy group in hopes to bring attention to the economic and social challenges of the people of Congo.
Other celebrities who have joined the Live Below the Line challenge to help raise funds include: Josh Groban, Hugh Jackman, Debi Mazar, Sophia Bush, Hunter Biden, and “The Avengers” star Tom Hiddleston. The celebrities will be tweeting about their experience.
Keeping Track of Spending and What to Buy
In case you haven't done the math, the total budget for the five days is $7.50. The Live Below the Line guidelines recommend that you spend your entire budget at the beginning of the challenge.
According to the foundations FAQ:
"You can then use the cost of your portions to determine how much you’re spending per meal, to ensure you’re feeding yourself on only $1.50/day. We recommend doing research and creating a shopping list, sticking to generic staples such as pasta, lentils, rice, bread, vegetables, potatoes and oats."
Live Below the Line was founded by Rich Fleming from the Global Poverty Project and Nick Allardice from the Oaktree Foundation.
At the time of this writing, the most recent campaign has raised a total of $193,459 for the Below the Line challenge taking place from April 29 to May 3.
What do you think about the Live Below the Line Challenge? How would you choose to live on $1.50 a day?