Hollywood Popular Artists

Apr 29th 2013, 19:37

What would you do if you only had to live on $1.50? That's the reality of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty right now. This week, thousands of people around the world are going to Live Below the Line to raise awareness about their plight.

From April 29 to May 3, the Global Poverty Project's Live Below the Line challenge is encouraging people to live on $1.50 a day for food and drink. The challenge came about after Rich Flemming from the Global Poverty Project and Oaktree Foundation's Nick Allardice realized "how hard it was to truly understand the lack of freedom and choice that living in extreme poverty entailed."

More than 20,000 people have already pledged to join the challenge. Celebrities like Ben Affleck, Sophia Bush, Tom Hiddleston, and Josh Groban have volunteered their support and pledged to take the challenge as well.

Some people taking the challenge have set up fundraising campaigns to raise money for US-based charities that help alleviate poverty. You can view the leaderboards to see exactly how much is being raised in real time. If you're interested in donating to one or more of the charitable partners, you can do so on the site as well. Featured non-profits include the World Food Program USA, the ISIS Foundation, and the Somaly Mam Foundation.

To fully understand the experience and embrace the challenge, I've pledged to take the Live Below the Line challenge this week. I brought my $7.50 to the store today and bought my five days' worth of groceries. Tap water, thankfully, is considered free for those of us taking the challenge, so I spent my budget on foods that were high in protein or that would keep me fuller for a longer time. I'll post an updated blog on Friday with my thoughts from the week and what my days were like during the challenge -- so stay tuned!

Find out how you can help those living in extreme poverty by checking out the action widget below.

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