Hollywood Popular Artists

Jan 23rd 2013, 16:11

If you follow Frank Ocean's tweets or have paid attention to some of the creative ways jobseekers have put their names out there, you know the unemployment issue is front and center in the United States today.

With estimates claiming that close to 20 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed, it's easy to feel dejected. How are we going to even start to address this problem?

Lucky for us, CrowdRise has an answer. Inspired by the idea of "barn raisings," where neighbors helped each other build their barns because no one could do it alone, the fundraising site decided to hold a JobRaising.

For this campaign, CrowdRise has partnered with The Huffington Post and The Skoll Foundation to help job-creating non-profits raise funds to put Americans back to work. 74 non-profits to be exact! The organization that raises the most money through the site over the course of the campaign (it ends on March 1) will receive $150,000. Second and third place finishers will receive $50,000 and $30,000 respectively.

Some of the orgs in the challenge include Create Jobs for USA, which has already created or maintained 5,000 jobs and Students Rising Above, which helps low-income, first-generation students successfully enter the workforce and break the cycle of poverty.

As an added bonus to all of us who join in and participate, The Skoll Foundation has already committed $20,000 in cash prizes for "Mini Challenges" throughout the campaign's run. With a good cause hanging in the balance and prizes up for grabs, there's really no reason not to join in!

If you need more convincing, watch the video below to see what CrowdRise founder Edward Norton and Arianna Huffington has to say about the JobRaising Challenge. If you're already on board, share your favorite causes on Twitter using the campaign's hashtag: #jobraising.

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