CARE and ONE Take a Stand
Kristi York Wooten, Isaac Hanson, Zachary Hanson, Dr. Helene Gayle, Taylor Hanson (photo by Erin Ashford)
Burundi Drummers (photo by Erin Ashford)
Dr. Thomas Frieden, David Lane, Dr. Helene Gayle, Fredricka Whitfield (photo by Sirpa Horstman)
For the third year in a row, Sustenance Group members have joined with volunteers from CARE and ONE for an awareness event to commemorate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Each year at this Atlanta event, a team of global health and advocacy experts help get the word out about strides that are being made in the fight against extreme poverty, and audiences are entertained by international musicians. Advocacy and policy are front-and-center, and the CARE Action Network and ONE recruit new members at the event. This year’s program featured new Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Thomas Frieden, CARE’s President and CEO, Dr. Helene Gayle, ONE president David Lane, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield. CARE’s Derreck Kayongo gave a rousing call to action and asked the audience to stand up and be counted toward a Guinness World Record goal of more than 116 million people remembering the Millennium Development Goals around the world on October 17.
Atlanta’s Burundi Drummers put on an amazing performance as always, and CARE’s 2009 Champion in Philanthropy Awards were presented to two young women, Megan Maziar and Katherine McKerrow, recent grads of Atlanta’s Galloway School, who were honored for their work to raise $50,000 for the Save Darfur Coalition at a benefit concert in 2009 featuring Collective Soul.
The big surprise – and highlight – of the evening was an award presentation of a 2009 Champion in Philanthropy Award to and performance by the Grammy-nominated band Hanson, who shared songs and stories about their work to bring clean water, shoes, education and medical care to children in Africa. Hanson also talked about the walks they do in conjunction with TOMS shoes in every city on their tour: the band walks one mile without shoes and encourages its fans to do the same. Each mile walked raises money for their work in Africa. (CARE and ONE will walk with Hanson in Atlanta on October 28, for more details, click here.)
Take a Stand against Poverty also featured a CARE microfinance marketplace with goods made by women from around the world, and a seafood buffet donated by Six Feet Under restaurant. This year’s event also featured an opportunity to sign up for Join My Village, a new joint venture between CARE and General Mills which helps support 75 villages in Malawi.
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